Professional Documents
Culture Documents
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/shrilanka/timeline/2014.htm
SriLankaTimelineYear2014
January3
USAmbassadoratLargeforWar CrimesIssues,intheOfficeofGlobalCriminal
Justice at the Department of States Stephen J. Rapp will visit Sri Lanka Sri
LankafromJanuary611,2014,theStateDepartmentSpokespersonannounced.
During his visit Ambassador Rapp will meet with a broad cross section of
Government officials and political and civil society leaders on a range of issues
focusingonSriLanka'sjustice,accountability,andreconciliationprocesses.
January6
January8
January9
ArmyrejectedUSclaimthattheArmyshellinghadkilledhundredsoffamiliesat
St Antony's Ground in Mullaittivu District as completely 'baseless'. The U.S.
Embassyin Colombo on January 9 in its officialTwitter account posted a photo
captioned as "StAntony's Ground site of January 2009 killing of hundreds of
familiesbyarmyshelling".
India's ExternalAffairs Minister Salman Khurshid said "Our concern is that the
IndoSri Lanka agreement with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi should be
respected.TheSriLankanGovernmentsoughtourhelp,and,inresponsetothat,
we were promised that there would be devolution of power from the centre to
stateslikeitisinIndia."
January10
SecretarytotheExternalAffairs MinistryKarunatilakaAmunugamasaidthatthe
GovernmentwillquestiontheUSEmbassyinColomboovertheallegationsmade
byUSdiplomatsinsocialmediathatarmyshellingkilledhundredsof families in
theNorthduringthefinalstageofthewar.
January12
The display of a wreckage of a passenger airplane that was shot down by the
LTTE 16 years ago at the public park grounds in Jaffna District drew a large
crowd on January 12. The debris of the illfated aircraft along with some
recoveredpersonalitemsofthepassengersincludingaNationalIdentity Card of
apassenger,clothes,andshoes,wereondisplaytothepublic.
US pressed Sri Lanka to probe alleged rights abuses by its Army through
independent and credible investigations after a top American diplomat recorded
eyewitness accounts of serious "abuses" during the final stages of the civil war
withtheLTTE.
January14
TNA says the Government is not properly collecting data on the material and
humanlossesincurredintheNorthernProvinceduringtheperiodofthewar.
EPDP, a group of Tamil party allies of governing party decided to submit
proposals on behalf of the Tamil people to the PSC appointed to address the
nationalproblemsandproposethenecessaryconstitutionalamendments.
The Premier of Ontario Province of Canada, Kathleen Wynne had a friendly
meeting with a former spokesman, Nehru Gunaratnam for a LTTE front
organization, WTM in Toronto. The Premier and Gunaratnam along with city
councilorMichelleBerardinettiandLiberalMPPLorenzoBerardinettiattendedthe
eventattheKanthasamyHinduTempletocelebratePongal.
January15
Tharmalingam Jeyanthan (35) of the defeated LTTE and sought by Interpol for
terrorism arrested by the French Police in Paris when the man walked into the
Police Station to lodge a complaint. A Red Notice issued by Interpol on
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January18
January20
A survey conducted by the TID found that over 2,900 children and youth
abducted by the LTTE had perished in the war. The LTTE had abducted the
children and youth from their homes and forcibly recruited to its ranks to fight
againsttheGovernmentSFsatfrontlines.
Issuing the quarterly update to the 2012 Human Rights and Democracy Report
covering the OctoberDecember 2013 period, the Foreign & Commonwealth
Office (FCO) in London said that the human rights situation in Sri Lanka did not
improve during the last three months and UK's concerns over the culture of
impunityinSriLankacontinue.
January21
HRWoninitsWorldReport2014releasedinNewYorksaid'SriLankamadelittle
progress in 2013 in accountability for serious human rights abuses committed
duringthecountry'sthreedecadelongwaragainstLTTEthatendedin2009.'
PresidentofIcelandlafurRagnarGrmssonduringabilateraldiscussionatthe
Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, UAE told Sri Lankan President Mahinda
RajapaksathatSriLankahasmadearemarkabletransformationsincetheend of
theconflict.
MinisterofExternalAffairsProf.G.L.Peirissaidthatrepeatedresolutionsinthe
UNHRC in Geneva are counterproductive because of their polarizing effect and
exertexcessivepressureonthecountry.
SecretarytothePresidentLalithWeeratungasaidthattheGovernmenthasdone
allthatwas"humanlypossible" to implement the NAP for the implementation of
theLLRC,sinceitsapprovalbytheCabinetofMinistersinJuly2012.
January22
Skeletal remains of three more people have been unearthed from the unmarked
gravesitefoundinMannarDistrict.Withthelatestdiscovery,skeletalremainsof
42peoplehavebeenunearthedsofarfromthesitethatwasunderthecontrolof
theLTTEuntiltheSFsliberatedMannarDistrictin2008.
National Languages and Social Integration Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara said
thatboththeSinhalaandTamillanguagesshouldbegivenequalstatus.
Parliamentary UnderSecretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
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January23
January25
Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said that a lot of military camps that
wereinNorthduringthewarhavebeenremovednowandonlytheonesessential
to national security remain at strategic locations. He further explained that
maintenanceoflawandorderintheNorthishandledentirelybythePolice.
TheArmyduringabriefceremonyreturned23 housesitoccupiedinJaffnaDistrictin
the Northern Province during the conflict to the rightful owners.The programme was
implementedunderthedirectionsofMajorGeneralUdayaPerera,Commander,SFHQ
J.
January27
January28
Three more dead bodies unearthed from the mass grave at Thirukethishvara in
MannarDistrictraisingthenumberofbodiesrecoveredsofarto53.
Ministry of Defense in Colombo dismissed the media reports which alleged the
SFsofusingunconventionalweaponsinthewaragainsttheLTTE.
January29
British Minister of State at the FCO Hugo Swire said in the UK Parliament in
London that Sri Lanka's domestic LLRC appointed to address the reconciliation
andaccountabilityissuesdoesnotmeetinternationalstandards.
To avoid hurting Tamil sentiment ahead of elections, the Indian Government in
NewDelhirefusedtocommitSriLankaanysupportagainstaUSsponsoredUN
resolution accusing its military of committing war crimes in the final assault on
theLTTEin2009.
January30
January31
The 18th anniversary of the deadliest suicide bomb attack by the LTTE on the
CentralBankinColombowasmarked.OnJanuary31,1996,theLTTErammeda
massiveexplosiveladentruckthroughthemaingateoftheCentralBankbuilding
killing91peopleincluding41bankemployees.
Nisha Desai Biswal, the USAssistant Secretary of State for South and Central
AsianAffairsarrived inColombofortalkswithSriLankanleadersaheadofakey
UNvoteonthecountry'shumanrightsrecord.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing a ceremony held in Kalutara District
saidthatSriLankaisnolongeradominatednationanditwillnotcavetoexternal
pressureandbetrayitsindependence.
Petroleum Industries Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa lashed out at British
Minister of State at the FCO Hugo Swire for making a statement in the UK
Parliament that Sri Lanka's domestic mechanism for reconciliation was not
accordingtointernationalstandards.
Sri Lankan Government refused a visa to USAmbassador at large for women's
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issues, Catherine Russell, forcing her to cancel a highlevel visit scheduled for
February1011.HervisaapplicationwasofficiallysubmittedonJanuary27.
February1
USAssistantSecretaryofStateforSouthandCentralAsianAffairs,NishaDesai
Biswal said the international community's patience is wearing thin over Sri
Lanka's slow progress in achieving reconciliation and addressing accountability
forallegedwarcrimes.
February2
February3
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka rejected the statements made by
US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal, on
humanrightsissuesinSriLankaduringhervisittothecountry.
Finance Minister of India P. Chidambaram said that India assisted housing
project to construct 50,000 houses for Sri Lanka's IDPs has completed 10,250
houses in 2013.According to India's Ministry of ExternalAffairs 10,250 houses
were completed by December 31, 2013 and another 27,750 houses will be
constructedunderthesamescheme.
February4
February5
February6
February7
Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem during a meeting with the South African High
Commissioner Geoff Q.M. Doidge in Colombo said that passing proposals to
conduct international investigations against Sri Lanka will have unexpected
resultsanddamagethesensitivereconciliationprocess.
February8
AcitycourtinChennai(Tamil Nadu)acquitted13peopleaccusedofinvolvement
with the banned terror group LTTE. The case relates to the arrest of some Sri
Lankan Tamils in Chennai and seizure of communication devices, including
satellitephonesfromtheminApril2009.
UNAssistantSecretaryGeneral andUNDPAssistantAdministratorandDirector,
Regional Bureau forAsia and the Pacific, Haoliang Xu arrived in Sri Lanka. Xu
saidthathelooksforwardtounderstandingtheprogressmadeinthefirstyearof
theUNDAFfor20132017.
ExternalAffairsMinisterG.L. PeiristoldtheParliamentthattheGovernmenthas
implemented85percentoftherecommendationsintheLLRCreport.TheMinister
added that the Government will continue with the implementation work of the
LLRCrecommendations.
February9
AccordingtoareportinTheDivaina,theantiGovernmentactivitiesoftheNPCin
Sri Lanka had come under Government scanner and the Government has
decidedtoconductaspecialinvestigationintotheCouncil'srecentmeasures.
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China lent its support to Sri Lanka and said it opposed "interference" in the
country'sdomesticaffairs,aheadofnextmonth's(March)meetingoftheUNHRC
wheretheUSisexpectedtoputforwardaresolutioncriticisingtheisland nation's
postwarrightsrecord.
Defense Ministry informed the Lands Minister Janaka BandaraTennako that the
militaryhasnotbeenmandatedtoacquireprivatelandsintheNorthernProvince.
The Lands Ministry received some 7,566 complaints from residents in the
NorthernProvinceonlandmatters.
February12
February13
Main opposition UNP blamed the Government for the anticipated UN resolution
callingforaninternationalinvestigationintotheallegedwarcrimesduringthelast
phaseofthewaragainsttheLTTEterrorists.
UNP in a statement demanded the Government to conduct a domestic
investigationintowarcrimesallegationsarisingfromthequartercenturycivilwar.
MediaandInformationMinisterKeheliyaRambukwellasaidthattheGovernment
has implemented 75 percent of the recommendations in the LLRC and the
Government'sreconciliationprogrammeisconstantlymovingforward.
Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran stressed the need to give
'dual nationality' to members of the Diaspora so that they could return to Sri
Lankaandparticipatesinpostwarrebuildingwork.
February14
ThePresidentialCommissionappointedtolookintomissingpersonsintheNorth
and East during the period between 1990 and 2009 began its public hearings in
JaffnaDistrict.ThehearingswillcontinuetillFebruary17,2014.TheCommission
received30004000casesfromtheJaffnaDistrict.
UNP MP and former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lakshman Kiriella said
themediateamswhocovered the final phase of war should be held responsible
forleakedimagesandvideofootagewithregardtotheallegedwarcrimes.
February16
TheUnitedNationsHumanRightsCommissionerNaviPillayinareportcalledfor
an international investigation into war crimes committed in Sri Lanka during the
final stages of its ethnic conflict. The report also mentions emergence of new
evidenceonwhathappenedinthefinalstagesofthearmedconflict.
Russia and China declared their strong support to Sri Lanka against the US
sponsored resolution that will be brought against the country at the upcoming
UNHRC session in Geneva next month. Several other countries including
Pakistan,Iran,IndonesiaandUAEhaveexpressedtheirsupporttoSriLanka.
TheDMKpassedaresolutioninTamilNadu(India)urgingtheCentretosupporta
USbackedresolutionagainstSriLankaattheUNHRC.
February17
Ministry of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms said that the Government has
takenmeasurestoprovideredresstopersonsinjuredordisabledduetothewar
asrecommendedbytheLLRC.
February18
TheExternalAffairsMinistry inastatementsaidthatadelegationheadedbythe
Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management, Nimal Siripala de Silva
will tour South Africa on February 20 and 21 to hold discussions with South
African officials on that country's procedures and experiences of Truth and
Reconciliation.
Amirthalingam Baheerathan, the son of the former leader of TULF, who was
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CivilAviation Minister Pryankara Jayaratne said that the resolution of the NPC
askingtheGovernmentsofSriLankaandIndiatotakestepstointroducedirect
flights from Jaffna District and Trincomalee District to India for the benefit of
Tamilslivinginthenorthandeastoftheislandnationwas"ridiculous".
February20
The Government sent its response to the report by UN High Commissioner for
HumanRightsNavanethemPillayrejectinghercallforaninternationalinquiryinto
the allegations of human rights violations and accountability issues during the
latterpartofthewar.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa extended the mandate issued to the Presidential
Commission to investigate cases of alleged disappearances of persons in the
NorthernandEasternProvincesbysixmonthstoAugust12,2014.
BritishHighCommissionertoSriLanka,JohnRankinfollowinganofficialvisitto
JaffnaDistrictsaidinColombothatBritaindoesnotwanttoseethereturnofthe
terrorismunleashedinSriLankabytheLTTEagain.
February21
DMK, the Tamil political party in Tamil Nadu (India) urged the Indian Prime
MinisterManmohanSinghtofacilitateaseparateresolutionagainstSriLankaat
theUNHRCseekinganindependentandcredibleprobeintoallegedwarcrimesin
SriLanka.
February22
ALRC called for UN intervention into Sri Lanka's mass at Matale and Mannar
Districts saying that the mass graves were dug with bulldozers and such
methods are not conducive to proper handling of the human remains that are
foundinsuchgraves.
The NPC adopted a resolution against the alleged 'Sinhala colonizations' carried
outintheNorth.NPCCouncilorT.Raviharanpresentedtheresolutionagainstthe
'Sinhalacolonization'intheMullaitivuDistrictandgrabbinglandsofpeopleinthe
NorthernProvince.TheresolutionwassecondedbyCouncilorM.K.Sivajilingam.
Army Spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya announced that 150 young
women would be recruited to Sri Lanka Army from Tamil dominated Northern
ProvinceandmultiethnicEasternProvince.
February24
The Government rejected the call by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Navnanethem Pillay's 'to establish an international inquiry mechanism to further
investigate the alleged violations of human rights and monitor any domestic
accountabilityprocessinSriLanka'.
The Government under a programme initiated by the RehabilitationAuthority will
distribute40millionrupeesasconcessionaryfundstothewaraffectedpeoplein
theMullaitivuandJaffnaDistrictsofNorthernProvince.
Speaking at the debate in the UK Parliament in London, the British Minister of
State at the FCO, Hugo Swire said Britain does not believe that the domestic
processes set up by the Sri Lankan Government are adequate to address the
humanitarianlawviolationsandaccountabilityissues.
February25
Eighty skeletal remains were dug out of a mass grave in a former LTTE
strongholdinThirukatheeswaramareaofMannarDistrict,fuellingspeculationthat
thebodiesareofTamilcivilianswhodisappearedduringthewarwiththerebels.
AmnestyInternationalsaidthattheinternationalcommunitymustactonarobust
new UN report calling for an international investigation into alleged human rights
violationsandwarcrimesinSriLanka.
TNA said the report submitted by the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights, Navanetham Pillai is a comprehensive and accurate depiction of
theserioushumanrightsissuesinthecountry.
TheDepartmentofCensusandStatisticsbeganthepreprocessingofdataofthe
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February26
TheDepartmentofCensusandStatisticsbeganthepreprocessingofdataofthe
island wide census to assess the human and property damages that occurred
duringthecivilwar.
February27
TheUSSecretaryofStateJohnKerryreleasingthe2013AnnualCountryReport
HumanRightssaidthattheSriLankanGovernment'sfailuretoanswerthebasic
demandsforaccountabilityandreconciliationhasledtheUStosponsoranother
resolutionattheUNHRCinGeneva.
February28
March1
ICRC will conduct a survey in Sri Lanka to assess the needs of families of
individuals who disappeared during the nearly threedecade war against LTTE
terrorists.The survey would begin inApril and is scheduled to be completed by
theendoftheyear,ICRC'sspokespersonSarasiWijeratnetold.
March2
March3
March4
PrimeMinisterofIndiaManmohanSinghmetPresidentMahindaRajapakseafter
a resolution at the UNHRC condemning Sri Lanka's human record during its war
against the LTTE and to underline the case of demilitarisation in the Jaffna
Peninsula.
BTF, a separatist Tamil nationalist diasporas group in UK slammed the
'insubstantial' USsponsored draft resolution on Sri Lanka tabled at the UNHRC
sessioninGenevaonMarch3.
March5
TheCensusandStatisticsDepartmentissueditsinterimreportonthenationwide
census the Department conducted to assess the human and property damages
occurred during the Civil War. The interim report contains details of the
methodology, training, enumeration and supervision, and the processing of the
censusdata.
The Presidential Commission investigating the alleged disappearances of
persons in conflict affected areas has considered issuing a Certificate of
Absence instead of a Death Certificate to the persons who went missing during
thearmedconflict.
RejectingareportbytheUNHighCommissionerforHumanRightsNaviPillayon
thecountry'spostwarprogressas"fundamentallyflawed"initsentirety,Minister
of ExternalAffairs Prof. G.L. Peiris said judging the country by the initiatives of
OfficeoftheHighCommissionerforHumanRightsisa"travestyofjustice".
March6
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay reiterated her call for
the UNHRC to establish its own international inquiry mechanism into Sri Lanka
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saying the nearly five years after the end of the conflict, the Sri Lankan
GovernmenthasfailedtosatisfytheCouncil'scallforacredibleand independent
investigationintoallegationsofserioushumanrightsviolations.
ExternalAffairsMinisterG.L. PeiristoldtheUnitedNationsHighCommissioner
for Human Rights Navi Pillay that the negative attention placed on Sri Lanka
makesachievingreconciliationamongethniccommunities'evenharder.
Kapilan alias Nandhagopan, the 'second in command' of the LTTE's Nediyavan
Group,wasarrestedby Iranian authorities at the transit passenger lounge in the
Teheran airport. Thereafter, Nandhagopan was "seized" by Sri Lankan officials
andtransportedtoColombo.
March9
March10
March11
NewZealandGreenPartyhumanrightsspokespersonJanLogieaskedtheNew
Zealand Government to support the resolution on Sri Lanka tabled by the US
along with four other countries at the UNHRC in Geneva when it comes up for
voteonMarch26.
March12
TheUS,whilecallingforaninternationalinquiryintohumanrightsviolationsinSri
Lanka,calledforanothersideeventinGenevaonMarch18tolobbyforsupport.
PresidentMahindaRajapaksasaid"ThewarwasnotagainsttheTamils.Weonly
fought a brutal terrorist outfit that was the LTTE. If our war was against Tamils
how could the Tamils live happily and peacefully among the Sinhalese in the
southofthecountry?"
March13
March14
SLFPParliamentarian,NamalRajapaksa,addressinganelectionrallyinColombo
saidthatdespitethemilitarydefeatoftheLTTE,membersoftheLTTEDiaspora
werestilltryingtoestablishanEelam.
TNAleaderR.SampanthandismissedtheGovernment'sstanceblamingitforthe
stalled direct negotiations to hammer out a political settlement to the island's
ethnicconflict.
TNA Parliamentarian Sivashakthi Anandan said that help from the international
communityisneededtoaddressgrievancesofthepeopleintheNorthandEast
astherealgrievancesoftheTamilpeoplehavenotbeenaddressed.
Northern Provincial Councilor Ananthi Sasitharan addressing the UNHRC in
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Geneva said "The children affected in any war spend a lifetime to recover from
the impact. But, the Eelam Tamil children face a continued war with genocidal
intent. Concrete actions are needed to safeguard our children from becoming
permanentvictimstothegenocide."
March15
AnanathySaseetharan,awomanNorthernProvincialCouncilmemberraisedthe
issue of the arrest of Balendran Jeyakumari and her daughter Vithushaini in
KilinochchiDistrictatthemeetingofUNHRCinGeneva.
March16
TwoHumanRightactivistsRukiFernando,whoworksforRightsNowCollective
for Democracy and a Catholic priest, Father Praveen were arrested by the
TerroristInvestigationUnitinKilinochchiDistrictunderthePTAforattempting to
createethnicdiscordamongcommunitiesandtopromoteseparatism.
March18
TheGovernmentexplainedtotheUNHRCtheinvestigationsthatledtothearrest
and detention of three activists Ms. Balendran Jeyakumari, Fernando and
PraveensuspectedofsupportingsubversiveactivitiesinviolationofthePTAin
theconflictaffectedNorth.
Jaffna Commander Major General Udaya Perera said that the Government and
the Defense Forces would not allow the reemergence of the LTTE as theTamil
Diasporawants.
Thetwohumanrightactivists,RukiFernandoandFatherPrveendetainedunder
the PTA for questioning to ascertain the whereabouts of a LTTE suspect who
shotaPoliceofficerinKilinochchiDistrictwasreleased.
March19
March20
March21
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British Prime Minister David Cameron said that he had secured the 'full backing
of the European Union' for the UK cosponsored resolution on Sri Lanka next
weekattheUNHRCsession.
March24
The revised version of the USsponsored resolution on Sri Lanka was circulated
to member states of the UNHRC in Geneva. The revised version requests the
OHCHR to undertake a comprehensive independent investigation into alleged
seriousviolationsandabusesofhumanrightsandrelatedcrimesbybothparties
inSriLanka,duringtheperiodcoveredbytheLLRCfromFebruary,2002toMay,
2009.
A massive demonstration was held at the UNHRC headquarters in Geneva with
theparticipationofover5,000expatriateSriLankancommunitiesinEurope.
Chief Minister of Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran in a statement issued in
Mannar District expressed concern over the possibility of increasing the military
presenceintheNorthduetosearchoperationsinthearea.
March25
March26
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay presenting the
reportonSriLankatothe25thsessionoftheUNHRCinGenevasaidthatnone
of the various state mechanisms the Sri Lankan Government established during
the five years after the end of the war had the independence to be effective or
inspireconfidenceamongvictimsandwitnessesofhumanrightsviolations.
TNAParliamentarianP.Selvaraja saidthatlandsintheNorthandEastarebeing
grabbedbychauvinistforces.AccordingtoSelvaraja,privatelandsthatbelongto
theTamilpeopleintheEast,especiallyintheBatticaloaDistrictarebeingtaken
over by the Government with the assistance of chauvinist monks and the Sri
LankaArmy.
Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe, Commander of the SFHQKLN met the
rehabilitatedformercombatantsoftheLTTEinKilinochchiDistrictandalertedthe
rehabilitatedexcombatantstoexternalthreatsthatwouldbedirectedatthemby
partiesinterestedinsendingthembacktoviolentmeans.
March27
US led resolution on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC in Geneva was adopted with a
majority of 11 votes. Out of the 47 members of the UNHRC, 23 voted for the
resolutionand12opposeditwhileanother12abstainedfromvoting.
SriLankarejectedtheUNresolutioncalling for an international investigation into
allegedhumanrights violations as a conspiracy by interested parties "seeking a
regimechange".
US welcomed the passage of resolution and said it sends a "clear message" to
the Rajapaksa Government that the international community is committed to
promotepeace,stability,andprosperityinthecountry.
TNA opposed India for its decision to abstain from the US sponsored resolution
inUNHRCwhichwaspassedonMarch27.TNAMPSureshPremachandrantold
that India had cheated the Sri Lankan Tamils by the stance it had taken with
regardtotheresolution.
External Affairs Minister, G.L. Peiris blamed "unbelievable" US pressure on
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March28
March30
A joint statement put out by several organizations of Sri Lankan Tamils living
outside the country expressed disappointment over India's abstention at the
UNHRC.
March31
TheGovernmentproscribedLTTEand15otherallegedfrontorganizationsTRO,
TCC, BTF, WTM, CTC, ATC, GTF, NCCT, TNC, TYO, WTCC, TGTE, TEPA,
WTRFandHQGroup.
April2
April3
101 resettled IDP families in Keppapilavu area of the Mullativu District will
receive houses constructed by the Government. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa,
Secretary of Defense and Urban Development will hand over houses to the
displacedfamilies.
April4
April5
TNA called on the Government to lift the ban imposed on 16 Tamil Diaspora
organizations. According to TNA Northern Provincial Councilor, M.K.
Sivajilingam, the organizations have not in any way aided terrorists or terrorist
organizationsinSriLankaorelsewhere.
April7
HRWsaidthattheSriLankanGovernment'sdecisiontolabel16overseasTamil
organizations as financers of terrorism is so broad that it appears aimed at
restrictingpeacefulactivismbythecountry'sTamilminority.
Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris said that Sri Lanka will not participate in any
investigationcarriedoutbytheOHCHR.Hetold"Nobodycancomeherewithout
the cooperation of the Sri Lankan Government. The country would however
continuewithitsnationalprocessandremainengagedwiththeUN."
April9
Government handed over 98 acres of paddy lands that were occupied by the
SLAFto29resettledfamiliesforcultivationinVellamullivaikkalEastofMullaitivu
District in the presence of the Secretary of the Ministry of Defense and Urban
DevelopmentMr.GotabhayaRajapaksa.
Military Spokesman Ruwan Wanigasuriya said foreign terrorist groups and
several overseas organizations banned over suspicion that they were LTTE
supporterscouldgotoCourtsandgettheirnamecleared.
April10
FourpeopleincludinganArmyLanceCorporalandthreeLTTEleaderswerekilled
in a clash between SFs and suspected LTTE terrorist operatives in Nadunkarni
area of Vavuniya District in a search operation for the wanted LTTE suspect
PonniahSelvanayagamaliasGopi.
TID of Police interrogated Kapilan alias Nandhagopan, an overseas leader of
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Army spokesman Ruwan Wanigasooriya said that the three LTTE leaders who
were killed by the Army during the clash in Vavuniya District on April 10 are
Ponniah Selvanayagam alias Gopi, Sundaralingam Kajeepan aliasThevihan and
NavarathnamNavaneethanaliasAppan.
Justifying for maintaining troops in the former war zones, President Mahinda
Rajapaksa's special envoy on human rights Mahinda Samarasinghe said "We
were asked and criticized about the presence of the military in the north at the
UNHRCinGeneva.Weexplainedtothemtheneedtokeepthemilitarygoingas
it was a decision for a sovereign Government to take in view of the national
securityneeds."
Senior Police and Military officials denied that a soldier had also been killed in
the clash between SFs and suspected LTTE terrorist operatives in the
Nadunkarni area of Vavuniya District on April 10. They said the soldier died in
friendlyfireduringamilitaryexerciseonthesameevening.
April13
PolicemediaspokesmanSSPAjith Rohansaidthatlawenforcementauthorities
will seek Interpol's assistance to arrest LTTE leaders operating from foreign
countriestorevivethedefunctterroristoutfitintheisland.
April14
April15
H.WGunadasa,SecretarytothePresidentialCommissioninquiringintocasesof
alleged disappearances in the North and Eastern Provinces said that
Commissionwillprovidecounselingtothekinofthosedisappeared.
April16
Police Media Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana said that Police has launched an
investigation on the people who had links with former LTTE leaders
SelvanayagamKajeepanaliasGopi,SundaralingamKajeepanaliasThevihanand
NavarathnamNavaneethanaliasAppan.
TRACnamedtheBBS,anextremistSinhalaBuddhistorganizationinSriLanka,
as a terrorist organization. The BBS is understood by the TRAC to be an
organizationwhichusesterrorismasameanstoanend.
Cabinet Spokesperson and Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that the
Government is open for discussion with the organizations that were recently
proscribedforallegedlyhavinglinkswiththeLTTE.
Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa speaking at the 14th Defence Services
Asia Exhibition and Conference held in Puthrajaya (Malaysia) said that though
therewasnomoreterrorisminSriLanka,theLTTE'sglobalnetworkcontinuedto
functionlargelyunhinderedandthatsomenationsseemedtohavechosentoturn
ablindeyetothesefrontorganizations.
April17
Police Media Spokesman SSPAjith Rohana said that the Interpol is reported to
haveissued40'RedNotices'againsttheLTTEoperativeslivingabroad.
April18
ExternalAffairs Ministry together with the Defence Ministry decided to brief the
diplomatic community in Colombo next week on banning 16 Tamil diaspora
groupsincludingLTTE.
Military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya said reconciliation in Sri
Lankaafterathreedecadelongwarcannotbeachievedovernight.
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April22
April23
April24
April25
April26
Interpol issued a Red Notice for the arrest of Perinpanayagam Sivaparan alias
Nediyavan,whoisbelievedtobetheleaderoftheLTTEorganizationinNorway.
TNA senior leader R. Sampanthan said that the Government decided to ban
select Tamil diaspora organizations and individuals to thwart a free and
transparentinternationalprobeintothe2009CivilWar.
April28
NPC passed several resolutions demanding that the ban of 16 overseas Tamil
groupsbewithdrawnforthwith.
April29
April30
ASinhaladailynewspaperreported that18IntelligenceOfficershadbeensentto
18 countries as part of an international operation against the LTTE rump
organizations.
TheMinistryofDefenceandUrbanDevelopmentdeniedthatIntelligenceOfficers
beingsenttoothercountriestoeducateofficialsofthosecountriesaspartofan
internationaloperationagainsttheLTTErumporganizations.
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andkilledbytheSFsin2009asclaimedbymanylocalandinternationalNGOs,
was among the arrested persons by the Tamil Nadu Police in Dhanushkodi in
IndiawhentheyenteredIndiawithoutvaliddocuments.
May6
May7
PresidentoftheUNGA,JohnW.Asheacknowledgedtheprogressofthecountry
intherecentpastafterthenearly30yearsofcivilwarendedin2009.
May8
MinisterofMassMediaandInformationKeheliyaRambukwellasaidthatthereis
no change in Government's stance on achieving a sustainable final solution to
the ethnic problem through the PSC despite TNA's refusal to participate in the
PSC.
Military Spokesperson Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said that organized
eventsofanyformtocommemorateLTTEterroristkilledinbattleintheNorthern
Provinceor any other part of the country will not be allowed as it is illegal since
LTTEisabannedorganization.
ArmycommencedrecruitingTamil youth from the wartorn Northern Province for
thefirsttimeatMaritimeDivisionalSecretariatinMullaitivuDistrictinwhichmore
than50TamilyouthshaveappliedandtheinterviewerswillmovetoOddusuddan,
Puthumattalan, Mullaitivu and other areas to conduct interviews until June 30,
2014.
May9
The Naval troops attached to the SLNS Gotabhaya of the Eastern Naval
Command recovered the largest stock of LTTE pistol ammunition containing
120,000of9x19mmKOPPammunition,2,750ofSG12Boreammunitionand
5,600 of 357 Magnum (Blazer) ammunition buried at Vellamullivaikkal area in
MullaitivuDistrictinNorthernProvince.
May11
SriLankaandChinahavefinalizedatreatybetweenthetwocountriesonmutual
legalassistanceincriminalmattersaftertwocountrieshaveheldnegotiationson
thetreatyfromMay6to8,2014inBeijing.
May12
NPC said that it is saddened the Government's decision to prohibit any public
commemoration in the Northern Province with expressing its opposition to the
occasion being used by political parties and separatist groups in the North to
glorifytheLTTE.
British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Hugo Swire
said in the UK Parliament that the proscription of diaspora Tamil organizations
thataresuspectedofhavinglinkstotheLTTEbytheSriLankanGovernmentis
notconducivetoasuccessfulreconciliationprocessintheislandnation.
Sri Lankan Government's AntiLTTE operations in Tamil areas in the country
createfearsofrefugeeoutflowfromSriLankatoTamilNadu,India.
May13
A source said that the ban on Tamil Diaspora organisations has begun to split
these organizations and scare away individuals from them. It also added that
there is a "remarkable drop" in public participation in the activities of the
designatedorganizations.
May14
As Sri Lanka is getting ready to commemorate the defeat of the LTTE, the
MinistryofHomeAffairs,IndiaextendeditsbanontheLTTEforfivemoreyears.
Norway based IDMC, in a report released on stated that IDPs in Sri Lanka is
estimatedtobeupto90,000personsfiveyearsaftertheendofthewarin2009.
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MYR20,176.53(approximatelyUS$6,280)fromthearrestedLTTEmembers.
May16
May17
According to the BCGR sources, five years since the defeat of terrorism,
Government has successfully rehabilitated and reintegrated most of the LTTE
cadres who had surrendered to the SFs or were arrested by the authorities.The
BCGR under the leadership of Major General K.J. Wijetillake has so far
rehabilitatedandreintegrated11,947exLTTEcadresoutofatotalof12,303.
May18
Special Detection Unit led by North Central Province Senior DIG, Ravi
Wijegunawardana arrested an individual suspected to be an Indian intelligence
agentwhohadimpersonatedhimselfasaSriLankanusingafalsename(Hamza
Jamaldeen) for nineteen years from Koliyabenda Wewa area in Anuradhapura
District,NorthCentralProvince.
PresidentMahindaRajapaksa,whileaddressingthenationatthefifthanniversary
Victory Day celebrations in the southern town of Matara District, Southern
Province said that Sri Lanka today is not celebrating the victory of war, but a
victoryofpeaceachievedthroughsacrificeoflives.
The Army Commander Lieutenant General Daya Rathnayaka said that Army is
ready to face any threat against the country and its national security with the
guidanceoftheCommanderinChief,PresidentMahindaRajapaksaandtheSFs
under the guidance of the Defense Secretary can defeat the attempts to revive
terrorism.HenotedthatSriLankarehabilitatedand socialized a large number of
exLTTEcadresanditisanexampleforthewholeworld.
May19
AResolutionsubmittedtotheUSHRbyRushHoltcalledontheSriLankan
GovernmentandTNAtobeginnegotiationstoreachalongtermpoliticalsolution
thatwouldensureforapeacefulandunifiedSriLanka.ItalsocalledontheTNA
toacknowledgeitspastrelationshipswiththeLTTEandmakeafirm
commitmenttoreconciliation.
May20
May21
President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that Sri Lanka remains fully committed to
implement a domestic procedure to look into alleged violations that may have
taken place during the civil war. He rejected any international inquiry into the
allegedviolationsbyindicatingthecontradictionsinUNHRCresolution.
Over 2,000 students, teachers and other staff of Jaffna University observed
MullivaikkalRemembranceDayattheKailasapathiHallinJaffnaDistrictdespite
the ban by the Army on the observance of the day which marks the killing of
thousandsofTamilciviliansintheCivilwar.
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that the TNA has continuously requested the Government to provide adequate
livelihood assistance to the war victims in the North and East, but the
Governmentismoreconcernedaboutbuildinghousesforarmy personnel and is
focusedontheirwelfare.
JHUGeneralSecretaryandMinister,ChampikaRanawakademandedNorwayto
immediatelyhandoverOslobasedLTTEleaderPerinbanayagamSiwaparanalias
NediyavantoSriLankanauthorities.HeaccusedthatNediyavanwhoisbelieved
to have financed the terrorist activities of LTTE, lives freely in Oslo despite the
Interpolarrestwarrantagainsthim.
May24
May25
Malaysian Police following the arrest of three LTTE members have launched an
operationtohuntdownmoremembersofthegroupwhoarebelievedtobehiding
inthecountry.
SLNdiscoveredthedebrisofaSLAF helicopter believed to have crashed some
time ago in the seas off Chalai in Mullaitivu District in the Northern Province, a
strongholdofLTTE.TheNavyhoweverdidnotconfirmifthedebrisbelongedtoa
helicopter which might have been shot down by the LTTE during their military
campaign.
May26
May27
Police Spokesman, SSP Ajith Rohana said that the three most wanted LTTE
leaders, identified as Sandalinga Raja Dushanthan, Mahadevan Kiribakaran and
Selvthurai Kiribavan arrested by the Malaysian Police have been brought to the
countryandarenowinthecustodyofSriLankanauthorities.
PoliceidentifiedthethreesuspectsasactivemembersofLTTEbeforetheyfled
to Malaysia. According to the Police one of the suspects Sandalinga Raja
Dushanthan had joined the LTTE Political Wing in 1994 and later had extended
hisfullsupporttotherevivaloftheLTTEoutfit.Thesecondsuspect,Mahadevan
Kirubaharan,hadjoinedtheLTTEMusicBandbeforehefledthecountryandthe
third suspect, Selvathurai Kirubananthan, had joined the Intelligence Network of
Pottu Amman alias Shanmugalingam Sivashankar and had fled the country in
2006.
SLAF, in a statement said that wreckage of a helicopter found in northern sea
andrecoveredbytheSLNoffChalaiinMullaitivuDistrictintheNorthernProvince
has been identified as belonging to the SLAF Mi 24 Helicopter CH 614 which
wentmissinginMarch1997.Italsosaidthat"thehelicopter crashed with all on
board and was believed to have been shot down by enemy fire. This was later
confirmedbyIntelligenceSources."
When the new Indian PM Narendra Modi met President Mahinda Rajapaksa for
bilateral talks at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, he requested Sri
Lankan Government to expedite the process of national reconciliation by fully
implementingthe13thAmendmenttotheConstitutionandgoingbeyond.
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Daniel Painter, the head of the political team at the British High Commission in
Colombo said that UK will continue to encourage the Sri Lankan Government to
respect human rights, promote meaningful reconciliation and agree a political
settlementwiththeTamilandotheroppositionparties.
June1
June3
The Retired Senior Police Officers' Association members have urged the
'Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing
Persons'topursuethematterregardingthemurderof600PolicemenbyLTTEin
AmparaDistrictinEasternProvinceinJune1990.
Deputy Home Minister of Malaysia, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said that
MalaysianswhogavedonationstorefugeesmayhaveunknowinglyhelpedLTTE
raiseenoughmoneytobuywarshipsandweapons.
UNPrejectedTamilNaduCMJJayalalithaa'scallforareferendumamongTamils
in Sri Lanka including those currently living abroad to decide on the
establishmentofaseparatestate(Eelam).
UNP MP Eran Wickremeratne criticized the Government by saying that "It was
this tragic state of affairs that has led to foreign countries and international
organizations telling us to put our house in order. It has reached a stage where
the UNHRC is about to commence a war crimes probe into the conduct of the
RajapaksaGovernmentandtheLTTE."
June4
ExternalAffairsMinisterProfessor G.L.Peirissaidthatitisnotthepolicyofthe
SriLankanGovernmenttoprovidePolicepowerstoanyprovincialcouncilinthe
country.HesaidintheParliamentthatPresidentMahindaRajapaksahasclearly
pointed out to India during his discussions with the Indian Government that
adverseeffectswillresultinthecountrybydevolvingsuchpowers.
BCGR said it has almost completed the rehabilitation of nearly 12,000 former
LTTEcadreswhoeithersurrenderedorweretakenintocustodyfollowingtheend
ofthecivilwarin2009.AccordingtotheCommissionerGeneralofRehabilitation
Major General Jagath Wijetilleke, there are 132 former LTTE cadres currently
undergoing the oneyear rehabilitation program that is jointly conducted by the
ArmyandBCGRatthePoonthottamRehabilitationCenterinVavuniyaDistrictof
Northern Province. Following a recommendation by LLRC a special committee
wasalsoappointedtostudythecasesofdetainedLTTEsuspectsandexpedite
legalactionwherenecessary.
Police arrested an individual, identified as Nandarasa Saundranayagam in the
possession of nearly 15 kilograms of TNT explosives in the Madhu area of
Mannar in Mannar District in Northern Province. According to Police media
Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana, a second suspect believed to be an explosive
expert of LTTE, identified as Gunasekara Mudiyanselage Nilanka JudeAnthony
alias Cyril Nilangam JudeAnthony alias Villango had escaped during the Police
operationandremainsatlarge.Rohanaaddedthatthesuspecthasknowledgeof
thelandminesburiedbytheLTTEduringthewarintheareabetweenMadhuand
Kanagarayankulamasaprotectivebarrier.
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said that about 40 former members of LTTE, who have successfully undergone
rehabilitation under a Government programme, are likely to get employed in a
constructionfirminSingapore.
June6
June7
The Director General of Sri Lanka CAA, H.M.C. Nimalsiri said that the debris
found recently at Moragolla area inAluthgama, Kalutara District in the Western
Province was not parts of an aircraft as suspected earlier. The Authority now
suspectsthatthedebrismaybeapartremovedfromaship.
Former Norwegian Minister and Peace Envoy Erik Solheim, once a key
negotiatorinSriLanka'sOslomediatedpeaceprocess,saidheiswillingtobea
witnessatanyrecognizedinternationaltribunalonallegedwarcrimescommitted
by Sri Lanka during the war. He explained that LTTE leader Velupillai
Prabhakaran's refusal to accept federalism and the constant infighting, between
the two main political parties, the SLFP and the UNP were the two main
obstaclestotheNorwaybrokeredpeaceprocess.
June8
SriLankanMEArejectedtheappointment ofateambyUNOHCHRtoconducta
comprehensiveinvestigationintotheallegedhumanrightviolationscommittedby
thebothsidesduringthelastsevenyearsofcivilwar.
June9
ThePresidentialCommissionInvestigatingCasesofMissingPersonsconcluded
its public sittings in the Batticaloa District, Eastern Province and received 216
new complaints. The Commission also recorded evidence in relation to the
Kurukkalmadam massacre where the LTTE allegedly killed 163 Muslims in
1990s.
Government decided to hold a debate in Parliament on the international
investigation mandated by the UNHRC to probe alleged human rights violations
duringthelastsevenyearsofthecivilwar.SLFPhastakenthisdecisionduring
its central committee meeting held at Temple Trees under the patronage of the
President.
June10
USandtheUKaskedtheSriLankanGovernmenttofullycooperatewiththe
internationalinvestigationmandatedbytheUNHRCtoprobeallegedhumanrights
violationduringthecivilwar.
June11
MPofTNA,M.A.Sumanthiranwarned thatthecountrywillhavetofaceserious
problems if a decision is taken in Parliament to bar the team appointed by the
High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay to investigate alleged human
rightsviolationscommittedinSriLankaduringthelastsevenyearsofcivilwar.
A legislator of UNP, Wijedasa Rajapakshe said that a vote on a debate on the
mattermayshowto the international community that there is at least a minority
of MPs supporting such an international investigation since TNA may vote in
favoroftheinternationalprobe.
NFFpraisedthemainconstituentparty'sdecisiontodebateinparliamentonthe
international investigation mandated by UNHRC and said the party totally
supportstheinitiative.
Defence Ministry Spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said that those
making false accusations from European and North American countries that
deported Tamil asylum seekers are subjected to rape and sexual abuse at the
hands of SFs wanted to avoid being deported to Sri Lanka. He stressed that
these allegations are part of a massive campaign launched by the asylum
seekers along with over 7 per cent of the Tamil Diaspora members who are
desperatelytryingtocarveoutaseparatestateinthecountry.
Representatives of the Retired Senior Police Officers' Association requested to
the Chairman of the Presidential Commission Investigating Cases of Missing
Persons, Maxwell Paranagama to investigate matters regarding the murder of
600 Police officers by LTTE in the Eastern Province in 1990. Over 600 Police
officers served in Batticaloa and Ampara Police Divisions in the Eastern
Province surrendered to the LTTE under the orders of the then President R.
Premadasa who had agreed to a ceasefire with the rebels. Shortly afterwards
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theirsurrenderonJune11,1990LTTEkilledalltheofficers.
TheUNHCHRNaviPillayhasappointedtheteamasmandatedbytheUNHRCto
conductacomprehensiveinvestigationintotheallegedwarcrimescommittedby
theSFsandLTTEduringthelastsevenyearsofthecivilwar.SeniorUNofficial
Ms. Sandra Beidas will be the coordinator of the OHCHR investigative team
which comprises 12 members, including two forensic experts, a legal analyst, a
genderspecialistandinvestigators.
June12
SR on the Human Rights of IDPs Chaloka Beyani told the 26th Session of
UNHRC in Geneva that the Sri Lankan Government has undertaken positive
effortstorebuildtheinfrastructuredestroyedduringtheconflictandthedemining
in return areas, post conflict reconstruction and development but still needs to
focus on building livelihoods linked to durable solutions for IDPs. He undertook
anofficialmissiontoSriLankafrom2to6December2013attheGovernment's
invitationandvisitedColombo,Jaffna,MullaitivuandKilinochchi.Beyani.
June13
A Local Court in The Hague ordered five LTTE suspects to be imprisoned for
collectingfundsfortheorganizationinNetherlands.Thefivemenarebelievedto
befrontlinersoftheLTTEinNetherlandandtheyweregivensentencesranging
from2to6years.
Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody announced that Parliament will debate
thecomprehensiveinternationalinvestigationmandatedbyUNHRCtoinvestigate
allegedWarCrimesonJune17and18.
A special Police team led by North Central DIG Ranjith Padmasiri arrested a
suspectfromalocationclosetotheclocktowerintheAnuradhapuraTown,North
Central Province while he was allegedly transporting 10 kilogrammes of
explosives, 500 detonators and 40 meters of fuse cord. The suspect was a 52
yearold man from Nochchiyagama, Anuradhapura District and the explosives
werebeingtransportedtoTrincomalee.
MainoppositionpartiesofSriLanka have decided to abstain from voting for the
motion to be taken up for debate in the parliament next week condemning the
UNHRCprobeonthehumanrightsviolationsinSriLanka.
June14
Pro LTTE candidate for ScarboroughRouge River, Neethan Shan, despite his
alliance with the Tiger rump failed to win at the recently concluded Ontario
provincial election in Canada. He was a staunch LTTE supporter who had taken
partinallLTTEheroes'daycelebrationsinCanada.Shanhadpubliclycriticized
theCanadianGovernmentforbanningtheLTTEfront,WorldTamilMovement.He
hadalsoparticipatedinTVtalkshows during the last phase of the humanitarian
operationin2009whichwipedouttheLTTEinSriLanka.Hespokeonbehalfof
terrorist leaders, and maintained that they were fighting for the liberation of
Tamils.
The Minister of Land and Land Development, Janaka Bandara Tennakoon, said
that Government has decided to bring a Prescription (Special Provisions)Act to
ParliamentforthebenefitofthepeopleoftheNorthernProvincedisplaceddue to
war.Hesaidthenewactwillbenefit500,000peoplewhoresidedintheNorthern
andEasternProvincesintheperiodbetweenMay1,1983,toMay18,2009.
Former TNA MP and NPC member M.K. Sivajilingam in a letter to Indian PM
Narendra Modi said that the Tamil people in Sri Lanka cannot expect a political
solution from Sri Lankan Governments without the direct and active intervention
of India. He sought the PM's help in reaching a solution which can, at the
minimum, offer a true federal autonomy to the Tamils in a single merged North
Eastspecialregion.Healsosoughthelptothemedicalandeducationalneedsof
theTamilpeopleintheregion.
June15
Rupert Colville, the Spokesman at the UNOHCHR said that UNHRC mandated
international investigation into the alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka is ready to
beginthismonth(June).
Violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Beruwala and Aluthgama areas in
Kalutara District of Western Province has left three people dead and at least
another 78 injured. Clashes erupted between the Sinhala and Muslim
communities in the area after the extremist Buddhist group BBS held a
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demonstration in the town to denounce the attack on a Buddhist monk and his
driverbyaMuslimyouth.
Localmediareportssaidthecommunalviolence was spreading to Colombo, the
capital city of Sri Lanka, as an unidentified gang attacked a pharmacy in
Dehiwalaarea.
June16
June17
Sri Lankan PM D.M. Jayaratne said that Police with the support of STF and
Armyhastakenallmeasurestomaintainlawandorderintheaffectedtownsand
stern legal action will be taken against the persons who are responsible for
atrocities.
The southern coastal towns still remain under siege of violence and sporadic
attacks have been reported from the areas despite a curfew imposed by the
Police.
UNP MP Palitha Thewarapperuma was attacked by a mob at Welipenna in his
Matugamaelectorate(Kalutara district, Western province) as he was involved in
rescuing Muslims who were under siege from the Sinhala nationalist mob. The
mobsattackedtheMPanddamagedhisvehiclewhilsttheMPescapedfromthe
mobwithoutharm.
A massive protest was held in Kattankudi Muslim town of Batticaloa District in
Eastern Province over the atrocities committed against the Muslims in towns of
Aluthgama and Beruwala. The protestors chanting slogans demanded the
government to ban the Buddhist militant group BBS and grant security for the
minoritycommunities.
ThePoliceobtainedacourtorderfromtheMawanellaMagistrate'sCourttostop
theBBSfromholdingarallyintheMuslimdominatedMawanellaTowninKegalle
DistrictofSabaragamuwaProvince.
Police curfew imposed in Aluthgama and Beruwala areas have been lifted
temporarilyfor4hoursfrom8amto12pm.
LTTE 'Intelligence Unit' member Subramaniyam Ravi Chandran was arrested
when he was hiding in Raigamwatte in Horana, Kalutara District of Western
Province. SSP Ajith Rohana said that he is being detained for questioning.
SubramaniyamRaviChandranhadjoinedtheLTTEin2002.
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wordswerenotsuitableforBuddhistmonks.
The sources say that Thero who is accused of instigating communal violence
againstMuslimshasgoneunderground.Theorganizationisonthevergeofsplit
andalegalbattleregardingthepropertyisexpected.
Sri Lanka Parliament passed the motion submitted against the comprehensive
international investigation mandated by the UNHRC to probe alleged war crimes
during the civil war.The motion passed in with a majority of 134 votes with 144
votinginfavorand10against.However,themainoppositionUNPabstainedfrom
voting.
HeadofSriLankaPolice,IG,N.K.IlangakoonsaidthatPolicearrested55people
suspected of instigating the clashes that took place in Beruwala, Aluthgama,
Welipenna and Matugama in Western Province and 35 of them have been
remanded. He said Police received 138 complaints relating to the recent
skirmishes and an extensive investigation will be conducted into the communal
clashes.
June19
Facebook has suspended the profiles of Sri Lanka's Buddhist extremist group
BBS and its monk leader Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera. A large number of
individuals have reported to the Facebook administration that the two account
holdersareengagedinspreadingracismandhatred.
MinisterofTechnology,ResearchandAtomicEnergyPataliChampikaRanawaka
accused that similar to how the US nurtured Taliban, which later targeted
strategic locations in New York, US Ambassador Michele J. Sison is nurturing
the Sri Lankan Jihadist groups thus jeopardizing the security of not only Sri
LankaandtheUSbutoftheentireworld.
Sri Lankan Parliament gave approval to extend the period granted to the PSC
responsible for recommending and reporting on political and constitutional
measurestoempowerthepeopleofSriLankatoliveasonenationtillDecember
21,2014.
ALTTE'SeaTigerForce'member, ThirunagarasuPradeepanwasarrestedatthe
KatunayakeAirportinWesternProvincewhenhewastotakeaflighttoQatar.
June20
Sri Lanka briefed the UNHRC of the measures that have been implemented by
theGovernmenttopreventfurtherdeteriorationofthesituationandtobringback
normalcy to the areas affected by the communal violence in the Beruwala and
AluthgamaareasinWesternProvince.
June21
June22
June23
SriLankastronglyrejectedastatementmadebytheCanadiandelegationatthe
ongoingUNHRCsessionsinGenevathatreferredtothemilitarypresenceinthe
conflictaffectedzonesinSriLankacontributingtothevulnerabilityofwomenand
girls in the areas. Sri Lankan delegation stated that the references made by the
Canadian delegation remains at the level of 'allegations unsubstantiated by
verifiabledata'.Theyfurtherwentontostatethatnoevidencehasbeendirectly
broughttotheattentionofGovernmentauthoritiesbyanyclaimant,toenablethe
conductofcredibleinvestigationsandprosecutions.
A Sri Lankan court in Kalawanchikudi of Batticaloa District in Eastern Province
ordered to exhume a large number of grave sites in the Eastern Province
following claims that the grave sites contain the bodies of scores of Muslims
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The Vavuniya High Court Judge convicted top LTTE cadre Kanagaraja
Ravishankar in connection with three cases of illegal transportation of arms and
missiles into the country from abroad. Ravishankar, a resident of Kilinochchi of
Northern Province was sentenced to 30 years rigorous imprisonment.
Ravishankar, had joined the LTTE in 1992 and was trained overseas by the
organizationasaship'scaptain.AccordingtopolicehehadleftSriLankain2005
andisnowknowntoresideinCanada.
June25
SSPAjithRohanasaidafterthereorganizationattemptsoftheLTTEledbyGopi,
AppanandThevianwereexposedonMarch8,2014,thePolicehadarrested51
suspects in connection with LTTE activities and there had been five females
among them. He said as of today (June 25), a total of 110 suspects with LTTE
linksareinjail.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay announced the names of
threedistinguishedexpertswhohaveagreedtoadviseandsupporttheteamset
uptoconductacomprehensiveinvestigationofallegedhumanrightsviolations in
Sri Lanka, as mandated by the UNHRC in March. Former President of Finland
andNobelPeacePrizeLaureate,MarttiAhtisaari, DameSilviaCartwright,former
GovernorGeneralandHighCourtjudgeofNewZealandandMsAsmaJahangir,
formerPresidentofPakistan''sSupremeCourtBarAssociationandoftheHuman
RightsCommissionofPakistanarethethreeexpertsappointedtotheteam.
US welcomed Navi Pillay's announcement of the appointment of three
distinguishedexpertstotheinternationalteamtoinvestigateSriLanka''salleged
humanrightviolationsandcalledonthegovernmenttocooperate.
June28
SriLankabannedvisasonarrivalforPakistanisafterinvestigationsshowedthat
jihadist groups targeting India were using Sri Lanka as a transit point. Indian
officials confirmed that Sri Lanka and Maldives have been redflagged by Indian
securityestablishmentforsometime.
June30
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Police media Unit said that Sri Lankan authorities have postponed the
excavations of a suspected mass grave site at Kaluwanchikudy in Batticaloa
District, believed to be of Muslims massacred by LTTE terrorists in the Eastern
Provincein1990.Excavationofthemassgravesitewastobegintoday(July1).
The Presidential Commission Investigating Cases of Missing Persons in Sri
LankaannouncedthatitwillconductitsfifthroundofPublicSittingsinMullaitivu
District of Northern Province from July 5 8, 2014. Sittings will be held at the
PuthukudiyiruppuDivisionalSecretariatonJuly5thand6th,andatMaritimepattu
DivisionalSecretariatonJuly7thand8th.
July2
Police arrested four Sri Lankan Tamils, including a LTTE cadre, on charges of
illegal entry when they clandestinely landed at Arichamunai, off Danushkodi, in
TamilNadu.ThepoliceidentifiedthemasS.Sathish(39),whohadworkedasan
'accountant' with LTTE, S. Ravindran alias Ravi (38), who had worked in EPDP,
J. Santhi (38) and Malar (55). Enquiries revealed that Sathish, who had studied
BA (Accounts) at the Jaffna Hindu College, had served in the LTTE as an
accountantfrom2004untilthefinalphaseofthewarin2009.
SriLankaArmytroops,nowengaged inrestorationofdamagedpropertiesinthe
violencehit southern coastal towns of Aluthgama and Beruwala in Western
Province since June 27, expect to complete the phase of the reconstruction
project within few weeks. According to Major General U.A.B Medawela,
CommanderofSFHQWestmanygroupsofSinhaleseandMuslimsocialworkers
haveenthusiasticallyextendedtheirsupporttothetroops.
CID of Sri Lanka Police questioned the leader of the extremist Buddhist
organization BBS Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero over the hate speech he
deliveredinAluthgamaearlierlastmonth.
Sri Lanka Police have requested the assistance of the INTERPOL to trace the
absconding suspect who had maintained close links with LTTE. The suspect,
Kathirwel Dayabaran Raj, is believed to be in India. Preliminary investigations
have revealed that he had escaped to Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu on May 4
withhiswifeandthreechildren.AnIndianmagazine hasreportedthatDayabaran
Raj was killed by the SFs but the Sri Lanka Police denied the allegation. Sri
Lanka Police said they have evidence that the suspect had escaped by boat to
Rameshwaram.
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Sri Lanka Police by July 3 received over 400 complaints related to the recent
SinhalaMuslim communal violence that broke out on June 15, 2014 in
Aluthgama,BeruwalaandadjacentareasofWesternProvince.About90percent
of the complaints were against unidentified persons burning houses, damaging
building,vehiclesandattackingpeople.AluthgamaandBeruwala police stations
had reported to Kalutara Magistrate Court about over 200 cases in which the
perpetratorshavenotbeenidentified.
InitialinterviewstorecruitmoreKilinochchiTamilyouthtotheSriLankaArmyas
vocational tradesmen commenced in the past week at the Harmony Centre,
Killinochchi District, Northern Province. Under Phase 2 of this program, Army
expectstorecruitasmanyas500youngtradesmenwhoarevocationallyskilled.
A Tamil political party in Sri Lanka, TNPF staged a protest at Kilinochchi town
demanding Sri Lanka Army to withdraw from their lands. The protest was held
outsidetheKilinochchiDistrictsecretariat.TheydemandedtheArmytowithdraw
to the barracks returning their lands to them. TNPF is a breakaway faction of
TNA,themajorTamilpartyofSriLankawhichrulesNPC.
July5
July6
TheAustralianGovernmentconfirmed returningagroupof41SriLankanasylum
seekers who attempted to arrive illegally by boat to Australia as part of a
maritime people smuggling venture, back to Sri Lanka. Australian Minister of
Immigration and Border Protection, Scott Morrison said the Border Protection
Command West of Cocos (Keeling) Islands in late June, 2014 intercepted the
suspected vessel carrying illegal asylum seekers. The Minister said the 41 Sri
LankansweretransferredfromanAustralianBPCvesseltotheSLNoutsidethe
SriLankanportofBatticaloa,EasternProvince.
July4
MalaysianauthoritiesareonthehuntformorecadresofLTTEafteracrackdown
ontheTamilmilitantgroupledtothearrestofsevenpersonsinthelasttwo
monthsinthecountry.FoursuspectedLTTEcadreswerearrestedonJuly3
bringsthetotalnumberofSriLankanTamilsarrestedhereinthelasttwomonths
toseven.MalaysianPolicebelievetheTamilTigersweretryingtorevivetheir
movementusingMalaysiaasatransitpoint,hideoutandanewbaseof
operation.
July6
Australianauthoritieshandedoverthe41asylumseekerstoSLNSSamudura
whenitwasondeepseapatrolinthesouthernseasofSriLanka.
July7
SLN said that it's Offshore Patrol Vessel, SLNS Samudura is bringing 41
Australiabound Sri Lankan illegal immigrants to the Galle Harbor in Southern
Province.SriLankaNavysaiditwillhandoverthegrouptothelawenforcement
authoritiesforfurtherinvestigationswhenbroughtashore.
UNHCR has expressed concern over the deportation of 41 Sri Lankan asylum
seekers fromAustralia. A further 153 asylum seekers also from Sri Lanka have
had their deportation blocked by the Australian High Court. UNHCR said it had
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beeninformedbyauthoritiesinAustraliathatenhancedscreeningprocedureshad
been applied to determine whether those deported raised claims for protection
whichrequiredfurtherconsideration.
July8
A Sri Lankan court in Galle, Southern Province remanded five of the 41 asylum
seekers handed over to the SLN by the Australian authorities after intercepting
them at high seas. Galle Magistrate, U.S. Kalansooriya remanded five of the
illegalmigrantsuntilJuly14andreleased27eachoncashbailofLKR5,000and
personalbailofLKR100,000.Thejudgeacquittedninechildren,whowereunder
the age of 16, among the asylum seekers. The released asylum seekers
speaking to reporters outside the court, claimed that they did not receive any
facilitiesinAustraliaandthatAustralianauthoritiesevenignoredthechildren.
UNHCHR said it is deeply disturbed by the return of 41 Sri Lankan asylum
seekerstoSriLankabyAustralianauthoritieswithoutproperscreeningandcalled
for a full judicial review on the matter. The High Commissioner said the
international law requires that each and every case be properly and individually
examinedonitsownmerits.
AustraliarejectedallegationsbySriLankanrefugeesreturnedtotheislandnation
that they were mistreated and said their return sent a strong message to those
thinking of following suit.Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said in
Colombo that "I find those allegations offensive and reject them absolutely." He
handed over two patrol boats to Sri Lanka to strengthen surveillance of people
smuggling. Morrison rejected claims that Australia had breached international
conventionsbyhandingovertheSriLankans.
Sri Lanka said many asylum seekers are economic migrants, but human rights
groupssaidTamilsseekasylumtopreventtorture,rapeandotherviolenceatthe
handsofthemilitary.
July9
TwoPolicereportshavebeenlodgedagainstMalaysia'sPenangDeputyCMIIDr
P. Ramasamy over alleged links with LTTE. The reports were lodged by two
NGOs at the Central Seberang Prai Police stations, Penang, Malaysia. One of
the groups also alleged that Ramasamy was brave as he is "backed up by the
Tiger Eelam separatist group from Sri Lanka". The NGOs also demanded
Ramasamybeinvestigatedandarrested.
The Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing
PersonshascompletedtakingevidenceintheMullaitivuarea,NorthernProvince.
Chairman of the Commission Maxwell Paranagama said the Commission
recorded submissions from 129 people from 23 Grama Seva divisions during its
sittings. He said the new complaints were registered and complainants will be
given fresh dates to make their submissions. He also added that during
submissions most of the people shared their own experiences during the last
days of the conflicts and the hardships they had to face from LTTE while trying
to cross the lagoon towards areas controlled by the SFs. People told the
Commissionthattheyweretreatedwelloncetheyreachedarmycontrolledareas
andwerebeingescortedtodifferentwelfarecamps.
July10
Malaysia has agreed to hand over to Sri Lanka four former leaders of the LTTE
arrested during a recent operation. Sri Lankan Police sources said that four
specially trained Policemen would leave next week for Kuala Lumpur to bring
down the hardcore terrorists to Colombo. A senior Police officer said that the
Malaysian police had assured to cooperate with their Sri Lankan counterparts to
apprehendotherLTTEsuspectswhohavetakenrefugeintheSouthEastAsian
countrywiththehelpoftheinformationelicitedfromtheLTTEsuspectsarrested
bythem.TheMalaysianPolicehavewarnedthecitizensofthatcountrywith dire
consequences if they provided refuge or assisted terrorists in any manner.
Among the former LTTE cadres arrested by the Malaysian Police is a suspect
wanted in connection with the abortive attempt on former President Chandrika
BandaranaikeKumaranatunga'slifeattheColomboTownHallgroundsduringher
1999presidentialelectioncampaign.
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Justice Minister and leader of SLMC, Rauff Hakeem said the arrest of Lankan
MuslimZakirHusseininaPakistanisponsoredespionagecaseinChennai,India
has contributed to the propaganda in Lanka that there are "Islamic terrorists" in
theislandnation.Hesaidthat"Weareacutelyawareoftheongoingpropaganda
in some quarters that there are terrorist elements or extremist groups that exist
withintheMuslimcommunityinSriLanka.Wesuspectthatvestedinterestsare
behind such propaganda interests which are bent on seeing the emergence of
terrorism in Sri Lanka, which we abhor by all means, in what we call a self
fulfilling prophesy." Hakeem said that the propaganda is part of a "long term
project" of some influential groups among the majority Sinhalese community in
SriLankato"annihilate"theMuslimcommunitythrougha"virtualholocaust".The
minister said the said "project" was initiated during Eelam War IV and it picked
up after that with the establishment of extremist Sinhalese Buddhist
organizationsliketheBBS.
July12
July14
July15
TNA agreed to denounce separatism and accept a united Sri Lanka for all
communities. Lawyers appearing for the Secretary of TNA and its main
constituent ITAK, Parliamentarian Mavai Senathirajah and leader of TNA R.
Sampanthan agreed to submit the affidavit to the Supreme Court that Sri Lanka
isaunitarystate.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has broadened the scope of the mandate of the
Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing
Persons and appointed a threemember international panel of experts to advise
the Commission. Sir Desmond de Silva, Sir Geoffrey Nice and David Crane are
thethreemembersoftheeminentpanel.
July16
Sri Lanka is urging US to avoid letting human rights concerns dominate the
relationshipbetweenthecountriesfiveyearsaftertheendofacivilwarthatkilled
as many as 40,000 civilians. Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, a lawmaker and
Coordinating Secretary to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said that reconciliation
in Sri Lanka is occurring at a "rapid pace" and the Government is focused on
strengthening its economy. Human rights issues shouldn't hinder closer
economictieswiththeUS.
Inareport,UK,FCOsaidthatdoingbusinessinSriLankaisnotwithoutsecurity
risks but no threat from terrorism. The report highlighted information on key
securityandpoliticalriskswhichUKbusinessesmayfacewhen operating in Sri
Lanka. However, there is no threat from terrorism in Sri Lanka for businesses.
The Government forces are strongly in control of the former conflict zones and
thereislittlescopeforinsurgency,itsaid.
July17
An Australian court has given Government lawyers until July 21 to file their
defenceinthecaseofthe153SriLankanasylumseekers.Agovernmentlawyer
has told the court that the Commonwealth has no plans to send the asylum
seekerstoSriLankawithoutgivingathreedaywrittennotice.
July18
The four LTTE militants arrested by the Malaysian Police on July 3 have been
brought to Sri Lanka. Police media unit identified three of them as Edmond
Singharaja alias Seelan, Angurukankanamlage Indika Sanjeewa alias Mohamed
SanjayaAbdulandAbdulSaleemBinMohamed.
July19
Sri Lanka Controller of Immigration and Emigration Chulananda Perera said that
alloverstayingforeignnationalsincludingthePakistanandAfghannationalswho
hadappliedforrefugeestatuswouldbedeported.Parerasaidthatlastweek,the
governmenttookstepstodeportfiveAfghannationals whohadbeenoverstaying
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in Sri Lanka. He further stated that there were 1,450 Pakistan nationals and 40
Afghannationalsoverstaying.
The LTTE cadres arrested in Malaysia and extradited to Sri Lanka have spilled
the beans on Tiger activists under questioning by the sleuths of the TID. They
have told the interrogators that they had never thought that the LTTE would be
defeated militarily in the North. They said the LTTE?had a lot of members in
Malaysia. "We thought of rebuilding the LTTE organization. We commemorated
theLTTEHeroesDayinMalaysia.Oureffortswereallinvain.Ourmembersare
stillinJaffna."
July20
PresidentMahindaRajapaksatoldvisitingPortuguesePMPedroPassosCoelho,
thatitwilltaketimetohealthewoundsofthe30yearlongwar.Rajapaksasaid
"It will take time to heal the wounds of war because way many youth died from
southandthenorth",evenashepledgedLanka'scommitmenttotheprocessof
reconciliation with the minority Tamils. He added that "The LTTE destroyed all
infrastructure in the north, east and other parts of the country while the people
livedinfear."
India has refused to grant visas to the UN team appointed by Navi Pillay
(UNHRC)toprobetheallegedhumanrightsviolationsduringthelastsevenyears
of threedecade long civil war in Sri Lanka. Commissioner of the SLHRC, Dr.
Prathiba Mahanamahewa has said that India has rejected to provide visa to the
investigationscommitteetoenterthatcountrytoconducttheprobe.
Reports said that the committee appointed by Navi Pillay will initiate its
investigations from three different locations worldwide. Centers established in
New York, Bangkok and Geneva will initiate the investigations connecting via
Skype,andSatellite.
July22
A document filed by the Australian Government in the High Court reveals that
thereare157asylumseekersonaboatthatwasinterceptedoffChristmasIsland
more than three weeks ago while it was previously stated 153.According to the
document family members among 157 asylum seekers in separate rooms on a
customs vessel are allowed out for meals and ''approximately three hours'' of
daylightaday.
July23
SLA said that it has gradually returned a large extent of land to the original
ownersafterreducingthesizeofArmycampsinJaffna.MilitarySpokesmanand
Ministry of Defence, Media Center Director Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said
the land occupied by theArmy now has been reduced to 6,500 acres from the
original 26,000 acres. He noted that most of the returned land was earlier
occupiedbytheLTTEfortheirmilitarypurposesaftertakingthemoverfromthe
peoplebyforce.
July24
The CBCID wing of Puducherry police arrested two persons in connection with
the trafficking of Tamil refugees, who travelled from the Puducherry coast to
Christmas Island in June. Sources said the boat owners, Raja alias Sanjeevi of
Kuruchikuppam andA Manjini of Vambakeerapalayam were arrested as per the
informationprovidedbyAustralianimmigrationofficials.
July25
AnAustralianGovernmentsource saidthatAustraliawilltransfer157SriLankan
TamilasylumseekersthatithasbeenholdingatseatothemainlandCurtinIDC,
Kimberley in WesternAustralia, in a setback for PM Tony Abbott's tough policy
onrefugeeboatarrivals.
With "security concerns" keeping President Mahinda Rajapaksa away from
attending last week's opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in
Glasgow, Scotland, the planned proLTTE demonstration opposite the Celtic
stadium lost its steam. Sources said that "The number of activists expected to
turn up for the demonstration dwindled as news spread that the President would
notbecomingfortheevent."TheprotestersopenlywavedEelamflags,shouted
antiSriLankaslogansandwereattiredinTshirtssportingVelupillaiPrabakaran's
photographdespitetheLTTElistedasaproscribedterroristoutfitintheUK.
July26
Ministry of Defence said that al Qaeda does not have a base in Sri Lanka nor
does any other terrorist organization. Defence Ministry spokesman Brigadier
Ruwan Wanigasooriya said that the Sri Lankan authorities have not given any
space for such groups to operate inside Sri Lanka. "Terrorism is terrorism no
matter what form it is in. Like the way we defeated LTTE if Muslim or Islamic
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groups attempt to engage in terrorism from inside Sri Lanka we will not leave
roomforsuchactivities,"hesaid.
ThePresidentialCommissioninvestigatingcasesofmissingpersonsintheNorth
andEastsaidthattheLTTEwasresponsiblefornearly80percentofthealleged
abductions,ofthecasesalreadyheardinfourDistrictsexceptJaffna.TheLTTE
was blamed for missing persons 90 percent in Mullaitivu, 80 percent in
Kilinochchi,70percentinBatticaloaandonly10percentintheJaffnaDistrictby
the relatives of the deceased. A total of 19,284 written complaints had been
receivedbytheCommissionsofar.
July27
A group of 157 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers including 37 children held on
board anAustralian Customs vessel for nearly a month have been taken to the
CurtinIDCinKimberley,WesternAustralia.
Indian consular officials are due to begin interviewing members of the group,
whose boat was intercepted by the Australian navy several weeks ago after
setting sail from India. While the group of Sri Lankans will be processed at the
Curtin camp, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has stressed they will not be
resettled in Australia and has released little information about them. India has
agreed to take back any of its nationals among the group. They should first be
interviewedbyAustralianauthoritiestoestablishanyclaimsforasylum.
Australia's Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Scott Morrison says
the 157 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers are economic migrants seeking to
illegallyenterAustraliasincetheycamefromIndia,asafecountry.Morrisonsaid
that since the group came from India, Indian officials will be determining their
identity and residency and the measure was a result of the discussions he had
last week with his counterparts in New Delhi. He dismissed the idea that the
refugeeswillbepersecutedifreturnedtoIndia.
July28
July29
TNANorthernProvincialCouncilorDharmalingamSitharthan,duringhisEuropean
visit said that Norway, which facilitated the peace process between the then
Government and the LTTE is now giving less emphasis to the peace building
process in Sri Lanka. However, he added Switzerland keenly looking at Sri
Lanka'ssituation.
Former cadres of the LTTE, undergoing rehabilitation, have recently visited the
South.TheMinistryofRehabilitationandPrisonReformshasorganizedthetour
oftheSouthasagoodwillmissionfortheexLTTEmemberswhoarescheduled
tobereleasedsoonaftercompletingtheirrehabilitation.
August2
The Sri Lankan Government said recent influx of asylum seekers has burdened
the country and the UNHCR has been slow to address their requirements for
resettlement. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the asylum seeker
and refugee population in Sri Lanka has witnessed a dramatic 700 percent
increase during the period 201314 and as at June 30, 2014, there are 1,562
asylumseekersand308refugees.
The UNHRC in a statement criticized Sri Lanka for failing to follow international
obligations and deporting Pakistani andAfghan refugees before the agency can
assesstheirasylumclaims.ItsaidthatSriLanka,inviolationof its international
obligations,hasdeported18Pakistaniasylumseekersinthepasttwodaysand
10morefacingimminentexpulsion.
Reports said that Pakistan is understood to have quietly withdrawn its official
fromitsHighCommissioninColombofollowinganallegationagainsthimthathe
wasinvolvedinconspiracytotargettheUSandIsraelconsulatesin south India
at ISI's behest. Sources said that Counselor Amir Zubair Siddiqui had been
withdrawn even before NIA's request under MLAT reached Colombo as his
presencehadbecomeuntenabletohisdiplomaticduties.
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Province. Commission Secretary H.W. Gunadasa stated that the sittings will be
held onAugust 8 and 9 at the Manthai Divisional Secretariat, Mannar Divisional
SecretariatonAugust10andtheMadhuDivisionalSecretariatonAugust11.
The term of the Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints
Regarding Missing Persons in the Northern and Eastern Provinces has been
extended to February 15, 2015. The Commission, to date, has received 18,789
complaints, and approximately 5,000 were from relatives of missing SFs
personnel.
The international investigation on Sri Lanka that will be conducted by the UN
OHCHRasmandatedbytheUNHRChasofficiallybeguninGeneva,Switzerland.
The OISL will probe the period from 21 February 2002 until 15 November 2011,
the period covered by the LLRC, from the day the ceasefire agreement was
signedtothedayLLRCpresenteditsreporttothePresident.
August5
UNHCRexpresseddeepconcernasSriLankacontinuesdeportingthePakistani
and Afghan asylum seekers back to their own countries from where they fled.
UNHCR said that it has learnt that a total of 36 Pakistani asylum seekers have
been deported from Sri Lanka since last Friday (August 1). More could follow,
includingwomenandchildren.
Sri Lanka's Department of Immigration and Emigration said that Pakistani, and
AfghannationalsvisitingSriLankawillnolongerreceivetouristvisasuponarrival
attheairportandtheasylumseekerswhoarestayinginthecountrywithout visa
foralongtimewillbedeported.TheDepartmentsaidtheprocesswillcommence
with the deportation of 147 Pakistani, and 85 Afghan nationals arrested by Sri
Lankanauthorities.
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Premani,aresidentofKilinochchi,NorthernProvince.
August13
Sri Lanka Defense Ministry spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya said that
thepersonsandorganizationsthathavebeenblacklistedunderaspecialgazette
notification by Sri Lanka Government can apply for clearance. Government
designated424 individuals and 16 organizations including the LTTE as terrorists
under the UN Act No 45 of 1968. These persons were blacklisted due to their
involvementinterroristactivitiesoftheLTTE.
August14
August15
August16
August18
Minister of External Affairs G.L. Peiris said that the relentless international
pressure on Sri Lanka to probe alleged human rights violations is not only
unhelpful, but is also absolutely harmful to the country.The Minister questioned
the wisdom of illtreatment towards Sri Lanka by some foreign powers while
exertingrelentlesspressureonthecountry'sforwardmarch.
Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed two more members to the panel of international
experts advising the Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints
Regarding Missing Persons in Sri Lanka. The two appointees are Avdash
Kaushal,acivillibertiesactivistheadingaNGOcalledRLEKinIndiaandAhmer
Bilal Soofi, an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and an international
lawexpert.
August19
Mahinda Rajapaksa said that Sri Lanka will not allow the UN team investigating
alleged war crimes committed during the last seven years of the threedecade
long armed conflict with LTTE. He said the team of UN investigators appointed
by the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay will not be allowed into
thecountry.Hehowever,assuredthatSriLankawillfullycooperatewiththeother
UNagencies.
External Affairs Minister G L Peiris said that the Government will not allow
anyonetouseitssoilforterrorelementstoplanantiIndiaactivities.Peirissaid,
"We have constantly assured India that under no circumstances will Sri Lankan
soilbeusedforanyactsagainstIndia."
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said that since the LTTEs defeat,
some groups have begun to engage in activities that stem far beyond self
protectionandthereisinformationthatsomeofthesegroupshaveeventriedto
link up with global Islamic terrorist organizations and so the situation requires
carefulmonitoring.
August21
TheUNmaybecomeinvolvedinthecaseoftheTamilasylumseekerswhowere
detainedonanAustralian customs boat.A brief High Court directions hearing in
MelbourneresultedinJusticeKennethHaynesettingadateofOctober14and15
forthefullcourtcase.Thelegalteamrepresentingtheasylumseekersindicated
that the UNHCR and theAustralian Human Rights Commission were looking to
interveneinthecase.
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A former LTTE cadre accused of assassinating the former SLA senior official
Major General Janaka Perera and 28 others in a suicide bomb attack in 2008 in
Anuradhapura pleaded guilty. The second accused of the case,
Shammuganathan Sudaharan, a former colonel of LTTE pleaded guilty for the
killings before the North Central Province High Court judge Sunanda Kumara
Rathnayakaandthejudgeacceptedhisguiltyplea.Hewasfurtherremanded and
thesentencingwaspostponedtoSeptember5.
Sri Lankas Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ravinatha Aryasinha, revealed
that the LTTE are running Madrassa type indoctrination schools in EU
countries.HesaidthattheLTTEhasestablishedMadrassatypeschoolscalled
Tamil Cholai to ferment the radicalisation of Tamil youth, and glorify terrorism
and martyrdom. He added that students of these schools are forced to
participate in propaganda events organised by the LTTE and its front
organisations.Healsosaidthatanestimated20,000Tamilstudentsbetweenthe
ages of 4 and 21 years are studying in more than300 Tamil Cholai schools
functioninginEuropeunderdifferentnames.
According to a local newspaper report, India, Pakistan, and China have refused
to provide information to the UN team appointed by the High Commissioner for
HumanRightsNaviPillaytoprobetheallegedhumanrightsviolationsduringthe
civilwarinSriLanka.
August23
India urged Sri Lanka to "engage constructively" to find a political solution that
builds upon the 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution, to the Tamil
issue.IndianPMNarendraModistressedtheneedforapoliticalsolution for the
ethnicproblemwhenasixmemberTNAdelegationmethiminNewDelhi.
August24
Commander SF Jaffna Major General Udaya Perera said that tense situation in
Jaffna helps some factions of Tamil Diaspora to survive in those countries and
they are spending plenty of money through extremist local political elements to
create mayhem in Jaffna. He also said that whilst all those projects are carried
out aiming at National Reconciliation, his troops are always alert on National
Security.
PCICMP panel probing the disappearances of people during the nearly three
decade war with the LTTE will hold a second public hearing in the former rebel
stronghold of Kilinochchi next month. SD Gunadasa, an official of the
commission, said the panel's hearing in Kilinochchi would take place from
September18to22.
August25
Minister for Small and Medium Industries and aTamil MP from Jaffna, Douglas
Devananda said that the TNA, which rules Sri Lanka's Northern Province, and
whose leaders met Indian PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi onAugust 23, is not
interested in finding a solution to the Lankan Tamil question. The Tamil leader,
whoheadstheantiLTTEEPDP,predictedthattheTNA,whichisnowdemanding
the full implementation of the 13A, will change its demand the moment the
governmentimplementsit.
Seven LTTE cadres who were rehabilitated at the Punthottam Rehabilitation
Camp in Vavuniya, Northern Province were entrusted to their relatives. 11,970
LTTE cadres of the 12,298 who gave themselves up to the Army have so far
beenreintegratedintosociety.
August26
TNAhassoughtIndia'shelpinthereturnofSriLankanTamilrefugeesfromIndia.
TNA parliamentarian Mavai Senathirajah, who was part of the TNA delegation
that met PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi said that, "There are over one lakh
refugees in Tamil Nadu living in 115 camps. We have requested the Indian
Government to pressure the Sri Lankan Government to release their [refugees']
landinthenorthwhichhasbeentakenoverbytheArmy."
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A large cache of arms including spent shells of 245 grenades and 28 rockets,
believedtohavebeenusedbytheLTTEinthe1980shavebeenunearthedina
reservedforestatKolathurnearMetturinSalemdistrictofTamilNadu,India.Itis
believed that LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran and his cadres had used this
Kolathurcampfortrainingpurposeduring198486.
Police arrested two Indian citizens for allegedly recording and possessing
photographs and video footage of Parliament and the PM's residence. Police
spokesmanSSPAjithRohanasaidthatactingonatipoff,theywerearrestedby
thePolicewhiletravellinginathreewheelertaxiinColombo.Rohanaadded that
thetwomenwerefromChennai,TamilNadu.
August27
A collective of international human right organizations has urged the Sri Lankan
Government and the member states of the UNHRC to ensure protection for the
witnesses at the UN mandated war crime probe against Sri Lanka. Six human
rightsorganizationsjointlyexpressedconcernovertheallegedlyongoingattacks
againsthumanrightsdefendersandotherindividualsfromSriLankawhoseekto
engagewiththeUNhumanrightssystem.
August28
TNA MP M A Sumanthiran said that TNA was ready to resume talks with the
Government in search of a lasting solution to the ethnic crisis based on power
devolution within a united Sri Lanka. He said that, "The Government is now
saying it cannot hold talks with the TNA because we are representatives of the
LTTE.The Government is trying to evade resolving theTamil issue citing these
falseclaims.Wedonothaveanyhiddenagenda.Westronglybelieveasolution
totheissueinaunitedcountryandwedonotwantaseparatestate."
August29
ASriLankancourtextendedan orderitissuedearliersuspendingtherepatriating
Pakistani nationals who have sought refugee status in Sri Lanka. The Court of
Appeal Judge Upali Abeyratna ordered to extend the order for four more days
whenthecasewasheardbeforethecourt.
FacinginternationalcriticismforforciblydeportingPakistaniandAfghannationals
seeking refugee status in Sri Lanka, the Government has established two more
centres to detain foreigners who are overstaying. One of the new detention
centers is established in Boosa, Galle. The other has been established in
Negombo, north of Colombo International Airport. Immigration officials said that
the detention centers have been opened for those foreign nationals, who have
registeredwiththeUNHCR,seekingrefugeestatus.
August30
The arrest of four human traffickers while trying to transport six Sri Lankans to
AustraliathroughthePrakasamcoast,AndhraPradeshinIndiaearlierthisweek
hasraisedthesuspicionamongIndianinvestigatorsthattheLTTEmaybetrying
to revive inAustralia. Report said that the officials from agencies including the
IB, CBI and Tamil Nadu Police, conducting the investigations suspect that the
LTTE is trying to regroup itself in Australia after lying low for five years since
their defeat at the hands of Sri Lankan SFs. The illegal emigrants to Australia
fromSriLankawerefrom,amongotherplaces,Mullaitivuand Mattakalappu and
areintheagegroupof24to28years.
According to a report, Sri Lanka will soon begin a probe on alleged war crime
violations parallel to the investigations conducted by the PCICMP. Maxwell
Paranagama,theChairmanofthePCICMPsaidthatprobeonthewarconducted
by them will begin soon parallel to the public hearings of the Commission. The
inquiries will go hand in hand with the investigations being conducted by the
PCICMP.
August31
Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in the UK, Chris Nonis said that the funds used
by the rump of the LTTE to procure arms are now being diverted to fight the
'propagandawar'andtheinternational'propagandawar'hastobefoughtwiththe
samefocusandsamestrategyasthephysicalwarthatwasfoughtandfinished.
September1
A Sri Lankan court withdrew the interim order suspending the deportation of
Pakistani and Afghan asylum seekers allowing the Government to send them
backtothecountrieswheretheyfledfrom.
September2
Pakistaniasylumseekers,whohadbeendetainedattheBoossadetentioncamp
inGalle,SouthernProvincependingcourtdecision,havebeenreleasedfromthe
campsandsenttotemporaryaccommodationinpreparationfortheirdeportation.
Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said thatArmy camps in the North would
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September4
Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said thatArmy camps in the North would
not be dismantled just because the Northern Province Chief Minister C. V.
Vigneswaranmadesuchdemands.
FollowingalQaedaleaderAyman alZawahiri'sannouncementoftheformationof
anIndianbranchofhisglobalarmedgroup,Governmentsaiditwastakingtheal
Qaeda threat 'very seriously' and would review its visa restrictions to prevent
extremistsenteringtheisland.
September5
AnuradhapuraHighCourtsentencedShanmuganadan,aformerLTTEcadreto20
years in rigorous imprisonment for the assassination of retired Major General
JanakaPereraand28othersinasuicidebombattackin2008.
Military spokesperson Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said "Only the central
Government has the power to make decisions on the country's national security
and it is not something that concerns the Local Governments, nor Provincial
Councilsoritscouncilors".
British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, John Rankin said, "Though Sri Lanka's
Northern region is moving forward from its difficult past, some concerns still
remained".
September6
September7
September8
September9
Governor of the Northern Province, G.A. Chandrasiri said that the Government
hasallocatedSLR1.385billionforthedevelopmentintheNorthernProvincethis
yearandwillprovideanotherSLR6billionnextyear.
September11
ThePresidentialCommissionInvestigatingCasesofMissingPersonsannounced
that the next round of public sittings to hear cases of missing in Kilinochchi
DistrictwillbeheldfromSeptember2730,2014.
September12
September13
UNHRCexpressedgraveconcernaboutthe'resumption'ofarrests,detentionand
deportationofasylumseekersandrefugeesinSriLanka.
Six Human Right activists filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the
deportationsofthePakistaniandAfghanasylumseekers.
September19
A special Police team led byADSP Usha Rani safely detonated and destroyed
explosivematerialsseizedfromLTTEinNagapatinaminTamilNaduin1985.The
Police said the explosives were seized in the coastal areas of the District,
particularlyVedarnayamandKodiyakkarai.Policehadseized166detonatorsand
250handbombsandhadkeptitundertheirsafecustody.
Sri Lanka Police have uncovered vital information about individuals who were
involved in giving LKR 202 million from the Kandy Trinity College funds to the
LTTE. According to report, an old Trinitian Nishantha Priyalal Alwis in his
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complaint said that a sum of money had been donated to the LTTE during the
tenure of a formerTrinity College principal Rod Gilbert and Gilbert was deported
after his connection with the LTTE was proven before the court.Alwis also said
that a teacher and 11 students attached to Kandy Trinity College were arrested
on suspicion of their connection with the LTTE. Police and CID are continuing
furtherinvestigations.
September20
Abatchof500youthfromNorthernProvincerecruitedtotheSLAVFcompletedtheirthreemonth
longtrainingandpassedoutinaceremonyattheSLEMEgroundsatKankasanthuraiinJaffna.The
ArmysaidpersistentthreatsfromLTTEinthepastdiscouragedtheNorthernerstojointheArmy
before2009andalsotheTamilofficers,whowereintheArmyatthattimeinfearofLTTEreprisals,
lefttheservice.
September21
British Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Laura Davies said the Peace in
Sri Lanka has brought many additional benefits, including opportunities for
economic growth and political participation. The envoy also said that "UK
continues to support Sri Lanka in its quest to further consolidate reconciliation,
democracyandhumanrightsinthecountry."
September22
SriLankaexpressedconcernatthe27thsessionoftheUNHRCinGenevaabout
the increasing use of remotely piloted aircraft or armed drones for countering
terrorismviolatingotherStates'airspaceandcausingciviliancasualties.
The ITAK, the main constituent of TNA in an affidavit to the Supreme Court
affirmed that neither the ITAK nor the TNA will seek a separate state within the
territory of Sri Lanka. The leader of ITAK parliamentarian Mavai Senathirajah
submitted the affidavit stating that the TNA and its leaders has consistently
expressedpubliclyontheITAK'spositionpertainingtoafederalsolutionwithina
unitedSriLankaatseveraloccasions.
The PCICMP has completed investigations into 1,000 complaints concerning
missingpersons,acommissionspokesmansaid.TheCommissionhasreceived
19,541complaintsand 5,000 among these are about missing service personnel.
Therestofthecomplaintsarefromthepublic.
September25
Calling the UNHRC investigation on Sri Lanka as 'intrusive' and 'unjustified' the
LikeMindedGroupofcountries(agroupof22nations)deliveredajointstatement
throughitschair,Egyptatthe27thsessionoftheUNHRCinGenevasupporting
SriLanka'sstanceontheprobe.TheLikeMindedGroupdeliveredthestatement
on behalf ofAlgeria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, North Korea,
Myanmar, Namibia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, The
Sudan,VenezuelaandZimbabwe.
September26
September27
TheLTTEwasconsideringthesurrenderingofseveralofitskeymemberstothe
SFsduringthefinalstagesofthewar,NorthernProvincialcouncilorandwidowof
formerLTTEEasternPoliticalWingHead,VelayuthamSasitharanaliasS. Elilan,
AnanthiSasitharansaid.AnanthiSasitharansaidthat afewdaysbeforethewar
ended, Elilan had informed her that he would be meeting LTTE's 'political wing
head', Balasingham Nadesan with regard to the surrendering of some key
members.
The UPFA MP Perumpulli Hewage Piyasena, onetime TNA and Pradeshiya
Sabha (local Government body) chairman, criticized the TNA for its pro LTTE
andantiGovernmentstancedetrimentaltotheinterestsofTamils.Piyasenasaid
thatinsteadofstrengtheningthehardwonpeacefortheTamils,theTNAisona
deliberate course to destabilise it. Its open support to UNHRC investigations
against the Government on human rights' issues and Tamil Nadu proLTTE
campaignsaredeplorableandintendedtomisleadtheTamils,headded.
September28
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asylumseekersbacktothecountriestheyfledfrom,sixhumanrightsdefenders
petitionedtheSCtochallengethedeportations.
September30
October1
The Cabinet approved a proposal made by the President to form a cabinet sub
committee on Social Reconciliation and Coexistence among Communities as
recommendedbytheLLRC.
October2
October4
ThetrialagainstSriLankanbornGalleonhedgefundfounderRajRajaratnamfor
allegedly funding the LTTE is expected to begin as early as 2015. In a seven
count complaint filed in the US District Court of New Jersey by the family
members of those killed and survivors of bombings committed by the LTTE
allegedthatRajaratnamandthefamilyfoundationheaded by his father provided
millionsofdollarsinfundsusedforterroristattacks.
October5
The Government has allocated SLR 300 million for 2014 alone to pay
compensation to civilians of the North who were impacted by the war. The
compensation is being granted to civilians who had lost their limbs and hands
and also house and property due to the war. Out of the total amount allocated,
SLR110millionhasalreadybeenpaidandanotherSLR130millionwillbepaidto
1,500 affected families in the North on October 12 by the President Mahinda
RajapaksaatafunctiontobeheldatIranamaduinKilinochchiDistrict.
October6
AmnestyInternational'sDeputyAsiaPacificDirectorDavidGriffithssaidthatSri
Lankamuststopmakingemptypromisestotheinternationalcommunityandthe
Sri Lankan people on improving the country's still desperate human rights
situation. He said "More than a decade since the last Committee review of Sri
Lanka'srecordin2003,it'sdisturbingtoseehowmanyrightsissuesraisedthen
still persist in the country and how the Government has ignored promises to
addressthem.SriLankastillreliesondraconianlawstosilencedissent.Torture
andenforceddisappearancescontinueunchecked,asdoviolationsoffreedomof
expressionandassociation."
October7
The UNHRC opened its 112th session at Palais Wilson, Geneva during which it
will review the reports of Sri Lanka's human right record. The Committee of 18
international independent experts will review Sri Lanka's human right record on
October7andOctober8.
October9
October11
President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared in Killinochchi that if the TNA and the
TamilDiasporagaveuptheeelamandseparatistideology,beforeanyoneelsehe
wouldbethefirstpersontoscraptheexecutivepresidentialsystem.Hesaiddue
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to thirty years of terrorism not only lives were lost but also places of residence
had been lost. He said it should never be forgotten that the war the country
foughttoputanendtoLTTEterrorhadnotbeenagainsttheTamilpeople.
October12
TheICRCwillcarryoutanislandwidesurveytoassesstheneedsofthefamilies
of missing persons in Sri Lanka. The ICRC in January this year has presented
proposal to the Government to conduct a Family Needs Assessment for the
families of missing persons and Sri Lankan authorities have accepted it. The
organizationhashelddiscussionswiththeofficialsfromthe Ministry of Defense
andthetaskforceoftheLLRContheproposedsurvey.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa handed over land permits to 20,000 persons and
returned to 2352 women, gold jewelry which they had deposited in the "Tamil
Eelam Bank" when the LTTE was running large parts of the Vanni region in
NorthernProvince.Morethan100kgofgoldandgoldornamentswererecovered
fromtheLTTE'sbanksbytheLankanSFsduringEelamWarIV.
October13
Sri Lankan SFs authorities in the Northern Province have urged the northern
civilians, who are yet to claim their gold and other valuables recovered from the
LTTEbanksafterthewar,tomaketheirclaimsatCivilCoordinatingOffices.The
SFsintheNortharenowintheprocessofreturningthe identified gold jewellery
totherightfulowners.
Police Media Spokesman SSPAjith Rohana said that Ten exLTTE cadres who
underwent rehabilitation in Boossa and a one month basic training course in
heavyvehicleoperationincludingbackhoeloadersandexcavatorssuccessfully
completed the course at the Vocational Training Centre in Galle, Southern
Province. The Government spent LKR 52,000 for each participant for the
residentialheavyvehicleoperationtrainingcourse.Arrangements willbemadeto
findemploymentforthemhereorabroad.Thetraining will continue for the other
exLTTEcadresaswell,SSPRohanasaid.
October15
October16
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TheGovernmentofSriLankaexpressedconcernoverthedecisionoftheECJto
annul the EU regulations proscribing the LTTE. The MEA said that the ECJ
judgment requires indepth study by all the defendant parties. The Ministry
statement said the island was confident that the European Commission and the
EU member states would take the best possible decision on the future course
ofactiontobetakeninthisregard.
October18
SriLankahasdecidedtocontestthedecisionbytheECJtoannulthesanctions
placedontheLTTEandwillsendanenvoytoseeksupportintheunionagainst
the ruling. Reports said that Sri Lanka's EU Ambassador Rodney Perera is to
traveltoStrasbourgonOctober20toattendtheEUparliament'splenary session
andtomobilizetwokeycommittees,foreignaffairsandsecurityanddefense.
ThePCICMPinSriLankawillconductpublicsittingstohearcasesofmissingin
Mullaitivu District, Northern Province again from November 2 to 5, 2014. The
Commission is hearing cases of disappearances and abductions in Mullaitivu
Districtforasecondtimeduetothelargenumberofcomplaintsit received from
theDistrict.TheCommissionisscheduledtohear231casesofmissingpersons
inthefourdaysittings.
PresidentMahindaRajapaksahaschargedthattherecentdecisionstakenbytheEU
are a result of the attempts by the opposition parties to oust him. He accused that
certainpoliticiansareworkingwiththeproLTTETamildiasporatoousthimatthemuch
anticipated presidential election."European Union has lifted the ban on the LTTE. It
happened within two weeks of certain opposition leaders having talks with the pro
LTTEdiaspora,"thePresidentsaid.
October19
VAnandasangaree, President of the TULF has warned that the decision by the
General Court of EU to lift the sanctions on LTTE will help to revive the
vanquishedoutfitinSriLanka'sTamildominatedNorthernProvince.Hesaidthat
"ProLTTE groups both within the island and overseas have received a shot in
the arm, and will now openly propagate the LTTE's cause of separatism and
terrorism."
Following the ECJ decision to annul the sanctions against LTTE, the proLTTE
Tamil political parties in Tamil Nadu, India have begun to demand the Indian
Governmenttoliftthegroup'sbaninIndia.PMKpartyfounderS.Ramadosssaid
thatIndiashouldtakeitscuefromtheECJ'sdirective.
October21
Accordingtothenationalradio,theGovernmenthasdecidedtosubmitanappeal
to the ECJ requesting to annul the decision taken by the lower court to lift
sanctionsonLTTE.
A patriotic movement in the country, the Alliance for National Unity and Inter
Religious Corporation said that they are prepared to brief the diplomatic
community in Colombo about the consequences of the removal of LTTE ban by
theEU.Theleaderofthemovement,KumburugamuweWajiratherosaidthatEU
isindirectlyassistingtherevivalofterrorisminthiscountrybyremovaloftheban
andurgedthepublictouniteagainstthemove.
TheGeneralCourtoftheEUsaidthatthedecisiontoliftsanctionsontheLTTE
was a legal ruling of a court and not a political decision taken by the EU
Governments.TheCourtinastatementsaidthatthelegalrulingisclearlybased
onproceduralgroundsanditdoesnotimplyanyassessmentbytheCourtofthe
substantive issues of designating the LTTE or of freezing LTTE funds. It also
said that the EU institutions are studying the Ruling carefully in detail and they
willreflectontheoptionsopentothemand,induecourse,decideonappropriate
remedialactiontotake.
October23
October24
UNResidentCoordinatorSubinayNandy,addressingafunctiontomarkthe69th
UN Day in Colombo said Sri Lanka has taken commendable steps for the
resettlement of displaced persons and to develop property that were damaged
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UNP General SecretaryTissaAttanayake said that with the EU Court lifting the
ban on the LTTE, the Government may use LTTE assets through the former
LTTEleaderKumaranPathmanathanforapresidentialelection."Accordingtothe
Government, LTTE assets and funds are worth over SLR 200 billion. They can
saythatitcouldn'tgetthefundsbecauseofthebanontheLTTEbackthen.But
thereisnolongerabanontheLTTEfromtheEU.ThereforeLTTEleadershave
accesstothefunds,"Attanayakesaid.
SecretaryGeneral of the Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma and President
Mahinda Rajapaksa discussed the reforms and objectives agreed upon at the
CHOGM 2013 that took place in Colombo.The SecretaryGeneral, who is on an
official visit to Sri Lanka from October 2529 called his visit a routine "health
check" of work resulting from a CHOGM and told Rajapaksa that the check "is
successful." Sharma stated that the Secretariat stands ready to continue
assistingintheimplementationoftherecommendationsoftheLLRCasrequired.
October29
TheCommonwealthencouragedtheGovernmenttoaccelerateitseffortstowards
sustainable reconciliation and consolidation of its "successful and hard won
peace" through continued implementation of the recommendations of LLRC.
Recognizing the significant effort Government has been made to redevelop
infrastructureandbasicservicesintheNorthernProvince,theSecretaryGeneral
of Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma said these are important developments in
peacebuildingandincreatingtheconditionsforenduringharmony.
October30
The UNHRC asked the Government to repeal the 18th Amendment to the
Constitution approved by the Parliament in September 2010. UN human rights
treatybody,whichreviewedSriLankaonOctober7and8,saidtheCommitteeis
concerned by the 18th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution which, inter
alia, discontinues the Constitutional Council and empowers the President to
dismiss or appoint members of the judiciary and other independent bodies. The
Committee asked the Government to take legislative and other measures to
ensuretransparentandimpartialprocessesforappointmentstothejudiciaryand
otherindependentbodies.
The Government denied the claims that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had met
LTTE supporters during his last visit to the US. External Affairs Minister, G.L
Peiris said in the Parliament that he was with the President during the US tour
and he can guarantee that the President did not meet any proLTTE diaspora
members.
November2
Sri Lanka Police's ITD arrested a suspected member of the LTTE, identified as
Somasundaram Wasantha Kumar who returned from Qatar. Police media
spokesman SSPAjith Rohana said that the arrested Sri Lankan expatriate was
an ethnic Tamil and the suspect tiger cadre has not been rehabilitated after the
end of war. Wasantha Kumar has migrated to Qatar and worked there for a long
time after the end of civil war in Sri Lanka. Reports also said that the suspect
was noted in the immigration records as a wanted person. Ajith Rohana added
that the suspect had closely associated with three LTTE terrorists, identified as
Gobi, Appan and Thevian who were killed April, 2014 in Weli Oya, Mullaithivu
District in Northern Province as they were trying to revive the now defunct
terroristorganization.
PCICMP started conducting public sittings to hear cases of missing Mullaitivu
District in Northern Province again from November 2 till November 5. The
PCICMPishearingcasesofdisappearancesandabductionsinMullaitivuDistrict
for a second time due to the large number of complaints it received from the
District. Public sittings commenced at the Maritimepattu Divisional Secretariat.
The commission was scheduled to hear 57 complaints on the first day but only
42wereattendedbythecomplainants.
November3
Sri Lanka and India started a joint military exercise aimed at sharing their
expertiseandexperienceinhandlingcounterinsurgencyoperationsbetweenSOF
ofbothSriLankaandIndianArmies.Themilitarytrainingexercise,'Mitra Shakti'
startedatUvaKudaoyoCRTSinColombo,WesternProvince.
The Government vehemently rejected the request made by the UNHRC to
remove the 18th Amendment to the country's Constitution. The Government
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stressed that the UNHRC has no right to ask for the removal of a constitutional
amendmentadoptedbythecountry'sParliamentwithatwothirdmajority.
November5
TheUShascautionedSriLankaagainstattemptingtosilencethosecooperating
with the UN. Ambassador Keith Harper, the US Representative to UNHRC,
tweeted saying that Sri Lanka must understand that attempting to silence those
cooperatingwithUNisanattackontheUN.Concernshavebeenraisedinrecent
times over reports that Sri Lankan authorities are cracking down on anyone
attemptingtoassisttheUNledinvestigationonSriLanka.
The Indian central Government as well as state of Tamil Nadu have submitted
beforeatribunalthatasperthedocumentsandoralevidenceonrecordtheLTTE
continues to practice violent, disruptive and unlawful activities, which are
prejudicial to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India. However, a special
tribunal constituted by the Delhi High Court has reserved its verdict on whether
the Centre's ban on the LTTE needs to be upheld. The central and state
governmentshavealsosubmittedthattheLTTEandproLTTEgroupshavebeen
active in Tamil Nadu even during the period of the ban on the outfit since May
2012.
ThePCICMPinSriLankainterviewed172complaintsduringthepublicsittingsit
held in Mullaitivu District for the second time, due to the large number of
complaints it received from the District. The Commission on November 5,
concluded its 4day public sittings in the District held from Nov 2 5 at the
Maritimepattu and Oddusuddan Divisional Secretariats. Out of the 230
complainants the Commission has invited, only 170 have been attended while
166newcomplaintshavebeenregisteredduringthefourdaysittings.
November8
The ECJ reassesses the removal of the ban on Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger error
group, LTTE in the EU before 15 January 2015, according to the French
Ambassador to Sri Lanka, JeanPaul Monchau. The French Envoy said that
liftingtherestrictionsontheLTTEisthedecisionoftheECJatthemomentand
theECJwillreviewthematterbefore15January.
November10
Sri Lanka's Marxist party, JVP plans to appeal to the CID to conduct an
investigationontheExternalAffairsMinistry's,allegedtransactionwiththeLTTE
for the renovations of the Geneva mission. It has been alleged that the current
Secretary of External Affairs Ministry, Kshenuka Seneviratne, has improperly
awarded a contract for the renovation of the official residence of the Permanent
RepresentativeofSriLankainGenevain2009.
November11
Leader of Sri Lanka's Opposition and the UNP, Ranil Wickremesinghe said that
he had asked the European Council to appeal against the ruling given by the
General Court of the EU favoring the lifting of sanctions against the LTTE.
Wickremesinghe said he has written to the EU High Representative Federica
MogherinitofileanappealagainsttheEUGeneralCourt'sverdicttoliftsanctions
ontheLTTE.
Australian ConsulGeneral to South India Sean Kelly said that Australia is
verifyingthegenuinenessoftheasylumclaimsofthe157SriLankanTamilswho
had left Puducherry in India by boat. The boat was intercepted by Australian
authorities in June, 2014. The migrants are now lodged in detention centres on
NauruIslandintheSouthPacific.
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PresidentMahindaRajapaksaaccusedthatNorwayhasfundedtheLTTEduring
the island's threedecade civil war and demanded an investigation into the
involvementoftheformerNorwegianGovernment.ThePresidentsaidthat"They
(Norway)gavemoneytotheLTTE.TheNorwegianGovernmentmustinvestigate.
Wehaveevidenceonhowtheyfundedtheterrorists".Hechargedthattheformer
Norwegian peace envoy Eric Solheim has supported the LTTE and now the
former Norwegian Minister is getting ready to testify against Sri Lanka at the
UNHRCledinvestigation.
November17
External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris met the UN Resident Coordinator and
conveyed to him the Government's extreme discontent regarding the
unprofessional manner in which the investigation on Sri Lanka was being
conducted by the Office of the OHCHR. The ExternalAffairs Ministry protested
theunacceptablemannerinwhichtheOctober30deadlinesetbytheOHCHRfor
submission of evidence to the investigation had been changed unofficially and
resetagain.
Former Norwegian Minister and facilitator of Sri Lanka's peace process, Erik
Solheim, rejected President Mahinda Rajapaksa's allegation that he supported
andfunded the LTTE. He said, "Norway, as the third, facilitating party to the Sri
Lankan peace process financed neither the LTTE in general nor its military
operations in particular." He however, noted that Norway made economic
resources available to the LTTE peace secretariat in order to assist them in
engagingmorefullywiththeongoingpeaceprocess.
November24
SriLanka'smainoppositionUNPMPHarshaDeSilvasaidintheParliamentthat
his party will not allow anyone to take any Sri Lankan leader to the international
courtonwarcrimecharges.Hesaidthat"Iamtellingtotheworld.We(UNP),will
not allow anybody to take President Mahinda Rajapaksa or any other leader to
InternationalcourtaboutWarCrimes,WewillnotallowthePresidentwhetherhe
wonorlosetobetriedbeforewarcrimetribunals."
TheEUcourt'sdecisiontodelistSriLanka'sLTTEandtheupcomingpresidential
electionwereamongtheissuesdiscussedatBritain'supperparliament,Houseof
Lords.ThediscussioninitiatedwhenLordNaseby,whoisthechairmanoftheAll
Party Parliamentary Group on Sri Lanka, asked the House of Lords what action
they are taking in response to the EU of Justice verdict on October 16 and its
conclusionsinrespectofrestrictivemeasurescurrentlyinplacesincetheLTTE
wasproscribedbytheEUin2006andbytheUKin2000.
November26
Army Media Spokesperson Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said that Sri Lanka
will not allow anyone to celebrate the birth anniversary of the slain leader of the
LTTE,VelupillaiPrabhakaranorthe'MahavirDay'thatfallsonhisbirthday.
CommanderoftheArmy,Lieutenant GeneralDayaRatnayakesaidthatSLAhas
taken measures to return another stock of gold jewellery the defunct terrorist
group LTTE possessed to the rightful owners in the Northern Province. He said
that another stock of gold jewellery will be released to 1,960 identified rightful
owners in the Northern Province at a ceremony on December 4, headed by
PresidentMahindaRajapaksa.
November27
SriLankaPolicehavedetainedthe37asylumseekerswhowerereturnedbythe
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December2
TheCounciloftheEUdecidedtoappealtheJudgmentoftheGeneralCourtwith
regards to the sanctions on the LTTE, the EU office in Colombo said. The
JudgementoftheGeneralCourtoftheEuropeanUnionannulledmeasurestaken
by the Council of the EU against the LTTE, namely the designation oftheLTTE
as a terrorist organisation and the freezing of LTTE funds. The Court gave the
judgementfollowingacasefiledinsupport of the LTTE and against the EU ban
ontherebels.
Police launched investigations into an alleged mass killing of civilians, a Police
Chief Inspector and SF personnel carried out by the LTTE in Pudukudiruppu in
TirunelveliDistrictin2007,PolicespokesmanSSPAjithRohanasaid.
TheSriLankanGovernmentsaidthatitwelcomesthedecisionoftheCouncilof
the EU to appeal the judgment of the General Court of the EU of October 16,
2014,whichannulledmeasurestakenbytheCounciltodesignatetheLTTEasa
terroristorganizationandthefreezingofLTTEfunds.
December3
TheTID of Sri Lanka Police arrested Sri Skandarajah alias Nidiyawan, a former
cadre of the Tamil Tiger terrorist group LTTE, from his home in Sambalthivu in
Trincomalee District. Nidiyawan, who claims to be a member of the LTTE
intelligence wing, is suspected of leading terrorist attacks in Sambalthivu,
Sampur and Nilaveli in Trincomalee District of Eastern Province, had fled the
countrytoQatarduringthelaststagesofthearmedconflictin2009andbelieved
tohavereturnedtothecountryunderafalsename.
December4
December5
A South African Tamil group has filed criminal charges against General Srilal
Weerasooriva,aformerSriLankanGeneralforallegedwarcrimesduringthecivil
war with the Tamil Tiger terrorist group LTTE. General Weerasooriva is in South
Africa as part of an international delegation attending theAssociation of Military
ChristianFellowshipsGlobalInteraction2014atthenavalbaseofSimonstown.
December7
TheCBIofIndiahassoughttheassistanceofInterpoltoitsrequesttoquestion,
Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP, the LTTE leader, who is under Sri Lanka's
protective custody, for the conspiracy behind the assassination of former Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991. Sources have told TOI that Interpol's
helphasalsobeensoughttoconvinceSriLankatoassistinthecaseandreply
tothejudicialrequeststhathavebeenpendingforyears.
December9
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ICGwarns.Ina15pagereporttitled"SriLanka'sPresidentialElection:Risksand
Opportunities"published,theBrusselsbased global conflict thinktank examines
the challenges facing Rajapaksa's ruling party and the Sirisenaled opposition,
and how domestic and international actors can mitigate the risk of political
instability.
December12
December13
TheUNledinternationalinvestigationonSriLankawillnotdeliverjusticeasitis
biased and not a proper investigation, Sri Lanka's ExternalAffairs Minister, G.L
Peiris said. In an interview with The Sunday Leader, Minister Peiris, reiterated
thatthecountrywillnotbesubjectedtoaninternationalinvestigation.
HigherEducationMinisterS.B.DissanayakeaccusedthattheMarxistpartyJVP
and the LTTE of having disrupted universities from 1980 to 2005. Dissanayake
was speaking after laying the foundation stone for a building complex at the
Trincomalee campus of the Eastern University, and said that as a result of
controllinguniversitiesbyproLTTEandJVPstudentstwovicechancellorsfrom
northandtwofromsouthhadbeenkilled.
Election monitoring group, PAFFREL in Sri Lanka, says that following the
declarationofPresidentialelectionoutofthe175cases,48incidentshavebeen
reported as violent incidents. There were four shooting incidents and one
bombingamongtheincidentsreported.Some19personshavebeeninjured and
hospitalized, the PAFFREL Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi said.
Hettiarachchisaidsuchviolationsofelectionlaws can undermine the legitimacy
of the presidential elections and urged all politicians to dedicate themselves to
conductafreeandfairpoll.
December15
President Mahinda Rajapaksa warned that despite the defeat of the LTTE in Sri
Lanka,thecountrystillfacesathreatfromtheLTTEnetworkoverseas.Speaking
atanelectionrallyinPanaduratowninKalutaraDistrict,thePresidentnotedthat
LTTEsupporterslivinginforeigncountrieshaveformedaparliamentoftheirown
and are working against Sri Lankan interests. The country needs to be vigilant
against the actions of these groups operating overseas and those supporting
thosegroupsfromwithinSriLanka,Rajapaksasaidadding,thegovernment and
thepeopleofSriLankaneedtocontinuethefightagainstterrorismtoensurethe
LTTEdoesnotraiseitsheadinSriLankaagain.
The Indian government has noted that the LTTE has links to other antinational
organisations, like the UK chapter of JKLF, Kesari Lehat Movement, Sikh
Activist Network, etc. While seeking to extend the ban on the LTTE, the Indian
central government and the Tamil Nadu government told a tribunal that the
bannedoutfitnurturesanideaof"greaterTamilNadu,whichincludesthestateof
Tamil Nadu, part of Kerala, part of Karnataka, part of Andhra Pradesh and
northeasternprovincesofSriLanka".
December18
PresidentMahindaRajapaksaaddressinganelectioncampaignrallyinMullaitivu
District said "After 27 years, we gave you an election. You all elected your
members. This election will decide a leader for the country". Speaking further
President Rajapaksa said the Government has done a massive amount of work
torebuildthewartornareaandupliftthelivesofthepeopleintheNorth.Among
other initiatives to improve their livelihood, the Government has provided self
employmentloansfor430exLTTEcadresofMullaitivu,henoted.
December23
UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon still wants Sri Lanka to cooperate with the
ongoing human rights investigation on Sri Lanka mandated by the UN Human
RightsCouncildespitePresidentMahindaRajapaksasayinghewillnotbackthe
investigation.ThePresidenthassaidhewillletlocallawstodealwithanyhuman
rights violators and not agree to a UN probe. The report on Sri Lanka by the
investigations team of the OHCHR will be taken up for discussion at the UN
Human Rights Council on March 25, 2015. The 28th regular session of the UN
HumanRightsCouncilwillbeheldfromMarch2toMarch27inGenevaandthe
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reportonSriLankaispartoftheagenda.
December24
Sri Lanka Police arrested two suspects in connection with the shooting at the
venue of an election rally of the common opposition candidate Maithripala
SirisenainKolonnawainColomboDistrict,WesternProvinceofSriLanka.Police
Media Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana, said the suspects, residents of
WellampitiyaandRajagiriya,werearrestedfollowinginvestigationscarriedout by
theMirihanaspecialelectionPoliceunit.
December27
Police STF personnel have been deployed in the Beruwala area in Kalutara
District,followingaclashbetweenUNPandUPFAsupporters,Policespokesman
SSPAjithRohanasaid.
Senior officials of Sri Lankan Government, Governors and other Government
officers are openly campaigning for President Mahinda Rajapaksa blatantly
violating election laws, the election monitors in Sri Lanka complain. Many
government officers have clearly ignored the orders given by the Election
Commissioner not to involve in election campaigning and the election officials
have become powerless to prevent such violations, the local election monitor
CaFFEsays.
TheHRSCLhasissuedadirectivetoallpublic officersofSriLankaonthe2015
Presidential election. The main intention of the directive is to ensure that the
upcoming presidential election of Sri Lanka 2015 will be free and fair and a
reflectionoftheviewofpeopleofthecountrywithoutanypressurebeingbrought
uponthem,theHRCSLsaidinastatement.
December28
TheCMEV,theofficialpollmonitorfortheSriLankaPresidentialelection,reports
of an attack on an election office of the opposition NDF located at Erakkandi in
Trincomalee District.The Secretary for Monitoring ElectionActivities for NDF in
the Erakkandi area had reported that the attack had taken place at around 1.00
Am.Accordingtothecomplainant,7iron pollswhichwereusedforhangingflags
of the party had been stolen and office decorations had been completely
destroyed.
December29
The TNA warned the government against making what it called clandestine
efforts to settle the national question. Having declared its intention to thwart
incumbentPresidentMahindaRajapaksasecuringathirdtermatJanuary8,2015
poll, TNA chief R. Sampanthan, MP, addressing the media at Hotel Janaki,
NarahenpitaareaofColombo,wherethefourpartyalliancepledgeditssupportto
opposition presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena, declared: "The national
questioncannotberesolvedthroughabackdoordeal.Suchanagreementisnot
possible.We'llnottakethatpath."
December30
December31
MinistryofDefensespokespersonBrigadierRuwanWanigasooriyasaidthatover
14,000 skilled personnel have been added to SFs since the end of the war in
2009 to carry out the postwar infrastructure development projects. The
spokespersonsaidthattheArmyhasrecruitedover10,000skilledpersonnelwho
arenotentitledforuniformsfortheirdaytodaydutiesandover11,000civilstaff
members have also been enrolled for these development duties. The Army, in
general has enlisted over 35,000 persons for the nation building purpose since
2009.
Source:Compiledfromnewsreportsandareprovisional.
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